Microsoft is bidding goodbye to Internet Explorer after 26 long years. For a web browser that was once market leader and then one of the holy trinity along with Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox, it might seem like the end of an era. But the fact is that Internet Explorer’s time had come long ago.
Microsoft recently opened up a little about the transition to Internet Explorer-free Windows 10 experience and revealed that Chromium Edge is the future of Internet Explorer on the operating system. After the announcement, changes have already begun to appear in the preview builds of Windows 10’s next feature update “Sun Valley“.
The transformation may be complete but Microsoft isn’t doing away with Internet Explorer completely. Initially, users of Internet Explorer will be automatically redirected to Microsoft Edge when they attempt to visit websites in the retired browser. This change is now being tested with Insiders.
Internet Explorer debuted in 1995 as part of Windows 95 and became an instant hit. It successfully killed off Netscape Navigator, and it achieved a virtual monopoly in the early 2000s. At its 2002 peak, Internet Explorer commanded 95 per cent of the browser market, CNN reported.
Once the most-used web browser, Internet Explorer had been on a steady downward trajectory for nearly two decades. Its share of the browser market fell below the 50 per cent threshold in 2010 and now sits at about 5 per cent, the report said.
Google’s Chrome is the browser leader, commanding a 69 per cent share of the market.
The tech giant has been phasing out the old browser for several years – but in 2019 it had to issue an emergency patch for it, for security reasons, the BBC reported.
At that point it was estimated that around 8 per cent of people were still using it. Between 2000 and 2005, Internet Explorer enjoyed a 90 per cent market share.