Internet Explorer

Internet Explorer 1.0

Internet Explorer 2 logo

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IExplore

Acid3 test, Firefox 124.0.1 and IE11

Usage share of web browsers (Source StatCounter)

Internet Explorer (IE) was a series of web browsers developed by Microsoft. It was first released as part of the add-on package Plus! for Windows 95 in 1995. Later versions were available as free downloads or in service packs, and included in the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) service releases of Windows 95 and later versions of Windows. Internet Explorer was once the most widely used web browser, attaining a peak of about 95% usage share by 2003. However, its market 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. Microsoft discontinued active development of Internet Explorer in favor of its successor, Microsoft Edge, announced in 2015.

History

Internet Explorer was first developed in 1995. Its development started in the summer of 1994 by Thomas Reardon who, according to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Review of 1997, used source code from Spyglass, Inc., which was itself a derivative of the NCSA Mosaic web browser, one of the first web browsers with a graphical interface. The first version, Internet Explorer 1, was launched in August 1995. It was followed by a series of more advanced versions, with the last version, Internet Explorer 11, being released in October 2013.

Features

Over its two decades of development, Internet Explorer introduced various features and technologies, including ActiveX controls, Browser Helper Objects (BHOs), and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) support. It was also known for its integration into the Windows operating system, which was cited as a factor in the United States v. Microsoft Corp. antitrust trial in 1998. Despite its early dominance in the web browser market, Internet Explorer was often criticized for its security vulnerabilities and lack of compliance with web standards.

Decline

The decline of Internet Explorer's market share began with the rise of alternative browsers that offered speed, security, and compliance with newer web standards. Firefox and Google Chrome, in particular, gained popularity at the expense of Internet Explorer. Microsoft attempted to regain market share by overhauling Internet Explorer with the release of Internet Explorer 9 in 2011, which offered improved speed, security, and standards compliance. However, these efforts were not enough to reverse the trend. In 2015, Microsoft announced that it would replace Internet Explorer with Microsoft Edge as the default browser in Windows 10.

Legacy

Despite its decline, Internet Explorer played a crucial role in the early development of the World Wide Web. It was instrumental in the adoption of web technologies such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, which remain foundational to web development today. Internet Explorer's integration into Windows also contributed to the widespread adoption of the Internet by making web access readily available to millions of PC users.

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