In 27 years, from the peak to a "laughing stock", Microsoft announced that the IE browser will finally be retired!

On May 16, the official Weibo account of @MicrosoftEdge browser posted a post announcing that "Microsoft's IE browser will be officially retired on June 16", which aroused heated discussions among netizens.

As a browser that has witnessed the youth of several generations, IE (Internet Explorer) finally ushered in a glorious "retirement" moment. In the past 27 years, the IE browser has gradually evolved from its peak to a "laughing stock", and it is often complained by users and netizens. Even Microsoft's official Weibo has ridiculed in the above blog post "Finally, after being hacked for so many years, IE needs to Officially say goodbye to everyone...".

In fact, as early as last year, Microsoft already hinted at this news.

In May 2021, Microsoft's official website posted in an announcement that "Internet Explorer (IE) 11 is the last major version of Internet Explorer...Starting June 15, 2022, some versions of Windows 10 will be The Internet Explorer 11 desktop app is no longer supported..." and encouraged customers to move to Microsoft Edge, saying that the Edge browser provides support for traditional and modern websites and applications.

Indeed, as the Chromium-based Microsoft Edge browser matures, it makes little sense for IE to be a desktop application bundled with Edge in a dedicated mode, so the "death" of IE is the inevitable result.

27 years of development history: from glory to "end"

Time pulled back to the last century, August 24, 1995, along with the Rolling Stones deafening "Start Me Up", Microsoft officially released Windows 95. As one of the most successful operating systems in Microsoft's history, Windows 95 has been popular for years.

Along with Windows 95 came the operating system's default browser, IE. The emergence of IE was quickly sought after by the market, and for a time it became the browser with the largest market share in the world.

Until 2001, the IE browser version 6.0, which was regarded as a classic at that time, was officially released, and in 2003, the global market share of each version reached a peak of 95%.

Five years later, in 2006, Microsoft finally updated IE 7, but IE 7 doesn't seem to be any different from previous versions.

In 2011, Microsoft launched the IE 9 version, and there were new upgrades in many places, but the voice of "IE slowing down" began to spread in the market and user groups, and even IE 9 could not do anything about it.

Time came to 2015, and Microsoft finally announced that it was planning to launch another browser, Edge. But at this time, the browsers on the market have already sprung up like mushrooms, including Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and domestic 360, Baidu, Sogou, etc. have begun to occupy the market, and there are many competitors.

At this time, the IE browser has been unable to keep up with the pace of the times, and the slow pace of development has been unable to meet the needs of users and the market, so until the release of IE 11, the IE browser finally ushered in the "end" moment.

How did IE become a "laughing stock"?

I believe that every friend who has used the IE browser will have this feeling, such as slow speed, slow response, poor compatibility... Of course, there are also "crashes" from time to time, especially if you are using the IE browser to register for the exam If so, the situation can be imagined.

If the "poor" user experience is the reason why the IE browser is becoming less and less recognized by users, then the release of Google Chrome in 2010 was the fatal blow to "end" the era of the IE browser.

As the first stable browser to support Windows and Linux operating systems, Chrome once became the browser with the largest market share in the world in 2012, and IE came in second, accounting for only 32% of the market share.

This situation "turned sharply" in 2015, when the market share of Internet Explorer dropped from one-third of the world to less than one-fifth. At present, the data shows that Chrome's global market share has exceeded 60%, while IE has dropped to less than 2%.

Changes in market data and poor user experience, various factors have accelerated the "out" of the IE browser.

IE mode extension for Edge browser

Of course, the spit returns to spit, and the retirement of the IE browser also makes many old users feel "sorry". In addition, many website systems still use the IE browser. Fortunately, even if the IE browser is retired, Microsoft will continue to improve the "IE compatibility mode" of the Edge browser.

It is reported that IE mode in Edge extends the use of traditional applications, even if IE is disabled, it can also be used. There are also some other browsers that say they can achieve "dual-kernel" support, which can support both the Chrome kernel and the IE kernel, and can automatically switch to the kernel that is more suitable for website adaptation.

So, for those organizations that rely on legacy Internet Explorer-based websites and applications, there's no need to worry, just configure the website to open in Microsoft Edge using Internet Explorer (IE) mode.

Microsoft officially said that Internet Explorer mode in Microsoft Edge enables backward compatibility and will be supported at least until 2029.

Reference link: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/announcements/internet-explorer-11-end-of-support