Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) has announced that it will be shutting down Internet Explorer on June 15, 2022. After years of encouraging businesses and users to switch to their new and reportedly improved web browser, Microsoft Edge, the company will now be making that switch mandatory.
"We are announcing that the future of Internet Explorer on Windows 10 is in Microsoft Edge," the company wrote in a statement. "the Internet Explorer 11 desktop application will be retired and go out of support on June 15, 2022, for certain versions of Windows 10."
Microsoft wrote that it is making the transition to Microsoft Edge because it is "a faster, more secure and more modern browsing experience... [and] also able to address a key concern: compatibility for older, legacy websites and applications.
Longtime users of Internet Explorer don't need to worry. Microsoft Edge is equipped with an alternative IE (Internet Explorer) mode for devotees of the old platform. This mode is also likely to be utilized by many professionals who never made the switch. The use of older-format sites is surprisingly common among businesses and healthcare systems, necessitating the compatibility.
Microsoft has signaled their interest in distancing themselves from the negative reputation of Internet Explorer for years, but before deciding to trash Explorer, the company tried to capitalize on the notorious reputation of the app. In 2012, Microsoft began a marketing campaign pitching Internet Explorer as "the browser you love to hate".
The marketing acknowledged commonly heard negative feedback about the browser, including "Internet Explorer is only good for downloading other browsers."
The tongue-in-cheek advertising wasn't enough to boost the brand. In a 2014 Reddit "Ask Me Anything", Microsoft engineers admitted that changing the name of the browser would be an effort to "separate ourselves from negative perceptions that no longer reflect our product today."
Arguably the final nail in Internet Explorer's coffin was the company's 2015 announcement that they would be creating a new browser under a new name. Microsoft moved away from Internet Explorer's reputation entirely, instead fronting their new browser with the well-known company name.
Even at the time, commentators felt that the transition away from IE was long overdue.
By 2019, Microsoft wasn't playing nice anymore. A cybersecurity expert in Microsoft's Windows division, Chris Jackson, wrote a blog on the company site titled "The perils of using Internet Explorer as your default browser". In the blog, Jackson writes, "Internet Explorer is a compatibility solution" rather than a viable browser.
Believe it or not, Internet Explorer was once considered a monopoly threat. At its peak in 2003, the browser dominated 95% of the market. Now, Google Chrome (NASDAQ: GOOGL) accounts for 64% of that global market, according to browser tracker StatCounter. The next largest share is taken by Safari (NASDAQ: AAPL) with 19%. Meanwhile, Edge users accounted for 3.4% of the market, and IE users registered in at less than one percent.