Microsoft To Retire Internet Explorer After 27 Years

(RTTNews) - After 27 years of long service, Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) is pulling the plug on its iconic Internet Explorer web browser.

Microsoft will be ending support for most versions of its Internet Explorer (IE) 11 browser on June 15. The tech company had announced over a year ago that IE would be removed from most versions of Windows 10 this year.

Internet Explorer was first released in 1995 as part of the add-on package for Windows 95 operating system. But, with later versions the browser was available as free downloads, or in-service packs, and included in the original equipment manufacturer service releases of Windows 95 and later versions of Windows.

Microsoft had discontinued new feature development of the browser in 2016 in favor of its new browser Microsoft Edge.

Since Internet Explorer is a Windows component and is included in long-term lifecycle versions of Windows such as Windows Server 2019, it will continue to receive security updates until at least 2029.

Internet Explorer was once the most widely used web browser, attaining a peak of about 95% usage share by 2003. However, its usage share has since declined with the launch of Firefox (2004) and Google Chrome (2008), and with the growing popularity of mobile operating systems such as Android and iOS that do not support Internet Explorer.