It’s goodbye time for the historic Internet  Explorer

How did the Internet Explorer achieve fame?

The story of Internet Explorer (IE) really covers the first real antitrust battle faced by Big Tech. When IE was launched in 1995, the corporate licensed the code used to make Netscape Navigator, the then-dominant browser. It used this to construct IE and bundled it with Windows, whereas Netscape had a $49 price tag on it. This is the first reason why net browsers today are always out there free of charge. It led the US Department of Justice to launch an antitrust investigation into Microsoft and the choice eventually asked for the company to be broken up, and said that giving IE free of charge was actually anti-competitive behavior.

What happened to Microsoft then?

While Microsoft successfully appealed the ruling, it led to strict restrictions being imposed on the corporate. Among these was a ruling that Microsoft might now not be involved in exclusive dealings with PC manufacturers and software developers. It compelled the corporate to open the Windows source code, through application programming interfaces (APIs) to different developers, so they might build a software that will work on Windows. It basically took away a huge part of Microsoft’s control over the PC ecosystem, which was the only “good” ecosystem at the time and began IE’s downfall in a manner.

How did IE lose dominance on the World Wide Web?

Despite the antitrust battle, by 2004, IE had 90% of the browser market on PCs. Meanwhile, Firefox began creating ripples. Then Google launched Chrome in 2008 and took the browser wars by storm. In the subsequent 5 years, Google took over the browser market and IE had less than 30% share by 2013. Today, that market share is 1%. As of July, IE and Edge had a total share of 9%.

Why is IE crucial in the history of the internet?

At its peak, Windows was the go-to operating system for folks using computers, and Internet Explorer was their gateway to the web. In international locations like India, with first-time customers, many didn’t even make the IE-Microsoft relationship. Just like many use Google as a synonym for the web today, IE was the synonym within the late 90s and early 2000s. The idea of ‘apps’ hadn’t arrived and every little thing you wanted from the web could only be accessed with a browser. The proliferation of smartphones changed all of that.

What’s in retailer for Internet Explorer?

This is effectively the end of life for the once-dominant web browser. From November 30, the Microsoft Teams web app will stop working on IE11, the latest model of the browser. Come August 17, 2021, the corporate’s Microsoft 365 providers, like Outlook, OneDrive, and more, will cease connecting to IE11 too. Microsoft mentioned it might mean “degraded experience” for customers and that certain features might cease working when accessing apps and providers using IE11. Microsoft is asking customers to move to Edge, which has built-in IE mode.