Microsoft abandons Internet Explorer web browser after 27 years Business

Microsoft will shut down its Internet Explorer browser on Wednesday after 27 years, closing the book on what was many people’s first introduction to the web.

Internet Explorer will be “retired” from June 15, meaning most consumers trying to open the app will instead be directed to Edge, Microsoft’s newest browser. Microsoft will begin to completely disable the software in the following months.

Microsoft launched Internet Explorer in 1995 to challenge the then-dominant Netscape Navigator in the age of remote access. Bill Gates’ decision to install the browser with Windows by default threatened Microsoft’s future in the late 1990s and early 2000s, when it led to deadly competitive battles with US regulators and Europeans.

Microsoft introduced Edge in 2015 and phased out Internet Explorer. However, the browser is still used by around 5.2% of desktop web users, according to figures from Net Market Share.

Internet Explorer was once the dominant browser, but struggled to keep pace with innovations in Firefox and Google Chrome, such as tabs and pop-up blockers, and was considered clunky. Apple and Google’s dominance of mobile operating systems means the browser has failed to take hold in smartphones.

Repeated relaunches failed, and Microsoft introduced the Edge browser alongside the Windows 10 operating system in 2015.

Although the company has put its efforts behind Edge, many companies continue to use in-house applications that run on Internet Explorer. This means that the closure could potentially disrupt office life. Microsoft has added an Internet Explorer mode to Edge to allow these apps to stay active, while specific versions of Windows used by IT departments will support the software. Windows 11, the new operating system introduced last year, does not run Internet Explorer.

Google’s Chrome is the dominant web browser on desktop computers with around 70% of the market, followed by Edge and Firefox. In 2013, the EU fined Microsoft €561m (£486m) for failing to offer users a choice of browsers when installing Windows.