Time comes for us all. It’s a lesson Microsoft’s learning the hard way, as its once-dominant browser is finally — finally — no more. Never again will that circular “e” logo be the first icon you click on when booting a new PC, nor will you have to spend a Saturday afternoon uninstalling seven toolbars from your mother’s computer. Internet Explorer dies tomorrow, June 15th, leaving nothing but memories — and, you know, Edge — behind.
You can’t say no one saw this coming. Some might say Microsoft’s browser died years ago, replaced by Chrome and, to a lesser extent, Firefox. Internet Explorer’s final numbered release dropped way back in 2013, during the height of Windows 8 outrage. Unbeknownst to many, the company had already begun work on Windows 10, a much-beloved operating system that shipped with a brand-new browser. Edge didn’t light the world on fire — these days, it’s basically a Microsoft-skinned version of Chrome — but the message was clear: Internet Explorer’s days were numbered.
How did we get here? As much as we’d like to say Microsoft did this to itself — and let’s be honest, it sort of did — Google’s actions against Internet Explorer 6 are well-documented. At the end of the 2000s, engineers at YouTube conspired to bring down that ancient, XP-friendly browser. Simply by adding a browser to the top of the page that pushed users to upgrade to a newer browser, the days of Internet Explorer dominating the web came to an end. Users started updating in droves while technology journalists praised Google’s attempts to make the internet faster and safer. Never mind that the higher-ups had never signed off on the plan — it had worked, and other product teams started adopting the same technique.
Since then, the writing has been on the wall. Chrome overtook Internet Explorer’s usage in 2012, a year out from the launch of its final version, a lead that only grew throughout the last decade. These days, Chrome accounts for nearly two-thirds of all browsing, with Safari in a distant second place. To add insult to injury, Google itself has all but hidden itself from IE over the last year, discontinuing Workspace support and even limiting the search experience on the legacy browser.
Although Microsoft has kept some level of support for Internet Explorer 11 since 2016, it slowly slipped into an “OS component” status, no longer available for download and only included as an alternate, basically hidden browser on all new PCs. Edge’s built-in “IE Mode,” which replicates the Trident layout engine in a safe, Chromium-powered space, is set to be supported through at least 2029, keeping a small part of the browser alive for compatibility needs.
Personally, I’ll always have a soft spot in my heart for Internet Explorer. It was the first browser I ever used, way back on Windows 95, the first way I ever experienced the web as a kid. Internet Explorer 6 is also how I discovered Firefox, mostly because my family’s XP machine would hang several minutes at a time — and often crash — whenever you opened it.
So, goodbye, Internet Explorer. I can’t say that it was a great browser for much of its life, but it was how I — and millions of others — learned to surf the web. And for that, I’ll always be grateful. For now, Edge will take its place as everyone’s favorite way to install Chrome.
