The last bell has finally rung for Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. Today, Wednesday 15 June 2022, is the last day users will be able to access the ancient portal to the Internet. So if you need to say your goodbyes, best you do it now, or forever hold your peace.
Internet Explorer is off to the great recycle bin in the sky
This isn’t the first time Microsoft has threatened it was doing away with IE, but this time it really will. But it’s not like too many people will be bothered by the news. Of all the browsers in mainstream use today, Google’s Chrome holds a commanding 66% of the market share. That’s followed by Edge, Microsoft’s chromium-based IE replacement, with 10% and Apple’s Safari browser with 9%. Internet Explorer is still on the list, but only just, with a 1.65% market share according to Statcounter’s May 2022 tally.
After today, users trying to open the antiquated browser will be redirected to Edge. The same goes for those that use applications that require IE to run. Edge has an Internet Explorer mode for those apps.
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If you’re old enough to remember when IE came out as the first free browser bundled with Windows, you might even feel a little bad for the once-great browser. But after you remember the toolbar fiasco that followed, that remorse will dissipate rather quickly.
Microsoft has been punting Edge with all its might since it rebuilt the browser using the open-source chromium project in 2020. Any user of Windows 10 or 11 will confirm that the constant nagging to switch to Edge was enough to put them off. Not to mention the hoops you had to jump through if you wanted a different default browser before Windows 11 launched.
Source: PC Gamer
