Google Search decided to stop supporting IE11, or will IE browser exit the stage of history?

Recently, Google software engineer Malte Ubl said on Twitter that after calculation by the Google search team, IE11 system is less cost-effective than the value of retaining IE11 users. Therefore, Google decided to stop supporting IE11. .

IE history

On August 16, 1995, Microsoft launched the first generation of Internet Explore browser. It was once one of the most widely used web browsers in the world with the highest market share. In 2002, it had a 95% market share.

However, IE 6 was rated as the "Eighth Worst Technology Product in History" in 2006, and in the list of the "50 Worst Technology Products in the History of Technology" in 2011, IE 6 ranked 11th.

In 2013, Microsoft officially released the IE11 browser.

However, in March 2015, Microsoft confirmed that it would abandon the IE brand and instead replaced Internet Explorer with Microsoft Edge on Windows 10.

For more than five years since then, Microsoft has been trying to update the IE browser and Microsoft Edge.

Since the birth of Microsoft Edge in 2015, Microsoft has regarded Internet Explorer as a "compatibility solution" rather than a browser. Compared to the aging IE, Microsoft encourages users to use Microsoft Edge and its built-in IE mode.

On October 15, 2015, Microsoft announced that it would stop providing technical support for multiple older versions of Internet Explorer browsers on January 12, 2016. In August 2020, Microsoft announced that its online services will bid farewell to the ancient IE browser and stop IE 11 support for Microsoft 365 applications, OneDrive, Outlook, etc. on August 17, 2021.

In August 2020, Microsoft announced that it would end support for the old version of Microsoft Edge (EdgeHTML kernel) desktop applications on March 9, 2021, and instead support the new Microsoft Edge (Chromium kernel).

In 2021, Microsoft announced that it will stop supporting Internet Explorer 11 desktop applications, and most users can choose the IE mode in the Microsoft Edge browser when they need it. Microsoft Edge with built-in IE mode was launched in 2019. IE mode supports old ActiveX spaces and legacy websites (many users still use them).

Google stopped supporting IE11?

Although Google ended support for IE11, this does not mean that Google prohibits IE11 from connecting to Google search, making it impossible for users to use the search function.

"End of support" means that IE11 users can use IE11 for basic searches, but the functions are not as complete as the Google search on modern browsers. This makes the IE11 Google search results page unsatisfactory, but for users who can't use Chrome, Edge or Firefox at all, this is at least a feasible solution.

StatCounter reports that as of September 2021, the IE11 browser has more than 1% of the desktop browser market, while Google Chrome has 67%. Although 1% may seem low, considering the absolute number of desktop devices that access the Internet, 1% of the total is still a large number.

Google search is one of the most important web applications on the Internet today. As it officially stops supporting IE11, more and more companies and developers will follow suit in the future, and this will make IE11 unable to access the wider Internet.