Microsoft Permanently Shuts Down Iconic Software In The Most Ironic Way Possible
Microsoft officially retired its iconic Internet Explorer web browser on Valentine's Day.
Microsoft permanently disabled its iconic Internet Explorer on Valentine’s Day. The move, which felt like an arrow through the heart for long-time users, came by way of a Microsoft Edge update on most versions of Windows 10. Folks will now be redirected to the new cross-platform web browser, with further updates set to scrub all traces of the old software from start menus and taskbars.
The change aims to provide a better user experience and help organizations transition any remaining IE11 users to the new browser. “With a growing number of websites no longer supporting Internet Explorer, Microsoft Edge offers a faster, more secure, modern browsing experience,” Microsoft said in a statement via CNET. It can also open legacy, Internet Explorer-dependent sites when needed.
Microsoft officially retired Internet Explorer in favor of Edge in 2022. Support for the old browser was also withdrawn for IE 11. Although the new update means the software can no longer be launched, there are some exceptions. This includes the tech giant’s Long-Term Servicing Channel for Windows 10 and the Windows 10 China Government Edition, The Verge reports.
However, the underlying technology that powers Internet Explorer, the MSHTML, and the Trident engine will continue to remain functional. Although Microsoft moved to its Chromium-powered Edge browser as the default in Windows 11, the MSHTML engine is still part of it. It powers IE mode in Edge. And the company says it will support IE mode in Edge through at least 2029.
Released in 1995, Microsoft Internet Explorer served as an add-on for Windows 95. By bundling the free browser with its primary software in the following years, the tech giant grew its market share to approximately 95 percent of the world’s web browser usage by 2003. However, its popularity declined when Mozilla’s Firefox and Google Chrome launched in 2004 and 2008 respectively.
With other options available, people became less dependent on Microsoft Internet Explorer. By 2010, its market share had dropped to 50 percent. Unlike its rivals, the company failed to align the program with web technology standards created by the World Wide Web Consortium to advance HTML and CSS capabilities.
As a result, its shortcomings presented users with severe security and privacy vulnerabilities. Critics also slammed Microsoft for developing the browser with third-party source code without paying royalties to the authors, MyBroadband reports. When Edge launched in 2015, it failed to reclaim market share from its competitors.
Its inability to make an impact was due to Microsoft Edge only supporting a handful of extensions. At the time, the company also chose to keep its proprietary rendering engine. In 2020, Edge was revamped with the new version taking inspiration from Google’s open-source Chromium codebase. The browser received praise for significant improvements and some performance benefits over its rivals.
Still, Microsoft has been criticized for trying to coerce Windows users into using Edge over third-party browsers like Google which most people prefer. To strengthen its agenda, the company made Edge the default browser for weather apps and other widgets on Windows 10 and Windows 11. Users are also blocked from setting other browsers to open them.
