Microsoft is pulling the plug on its web browser, Internet Explorer more than 25 years after it was first launched.
The aging web browser has largely been unused by most consumers for years, but Microsoft is finally putting the final nail in the Internet Explorer coffin on June 15th, 2022, by retiring it in favor of Microsoft Edge.
Announcing the new development, Sean Lyndersay, a Microsoft Edge program manager, stated;
We are announcing that the future of Internet Explorer on Windows 10 is in Microsoft Edge. The Internet Explorer 11 desktop application will be retired and go out of support on June 15, 2022, for certain versions of Windows 10.
The tech giant has also been trying to stop people from using Internet Explorer for more than five years.
Microsoft Edge first appeared in 2015, and it kicked off the end of the Internet Explorer brand and it has since labeled it a “compatibility solution” rather than a browser and encouraged businesses to stop using the aging browser in favor of Edge.
Launched in 1995, Internet Explorer became the dominant browser for over a decade as it was bundled with Microsoft’s Windows operating system that came pre-installed in billions of computers.
However, it started losing out to Google’s Chrome in the late 2000s and has become the butt of internet memes and countless jokes about its speed, reliability, and probably most notable of all, security, which will retire next year after more than 25 years of service.
Now, not even Microsoft wants Internet Explorer as its default browser, and it will be officially retired in June next year.
Rival, Firefox were quick to react to the news, tweeting: ‘Goodnight, sweet prince.’
Goodnight, sweet prince. https://t.co/2LTtVX0qKO
— Firefox 🔥 (@firefox) May 19, 2021
Although the announcement will mostly force any remaining consumer users over to Edge, Internet Explorer will still cling on for some businesses who pay for Microsoft’s Long-Term Servicing Channel (LTSC), designed for devices such as medical systems which need functionality and features to remain unchanged over time.
Microsoft said it will pull the plug on the browser’s life support in June 2022, giving its last remaining half a dozen or so users a solid year to transition to Chrome or Firefox.
