August 17, 1995 – June 15, 2022
We bow our heads this month to honor the death of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, lovingly known as IE. The Blue E was a rewritten version of Spyglass Mosaic, which accompanied the purchase of Microsoft Plus! for Windows 95. Unfortunately, this free version of IE meant that Microsoft did not have to pay royalties to Spyglass, Inc. This oopsie was followed by an $8 million lawsuit settlement in 1997. Alas, the browser continued to evolve, and boringly enough, it resulted in subsequent versions 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. Then, an inexplicable, unexpected, and unnoticeable name change occurred, and Microsoft Internet Explorer became Windows Internet Explorer. Versions 7, 8, and 9 followed thereafter.
Concurrent with IE’s evolution, other browsers entered the Internet scene. To compete, Microsoft boldly dropped “Windows” from the name and believed that Internet Explorer 10 and 11 would be strong enough to stand alone. Unfortunately, IE just could not keep up with other newer, faster browsers. IE11 was the last version standing at age 26 (#tooyoung).
Internet Explorer is survived by its much cooler offspring Microsoft Edge. Rumor has it that Edge is the love child of IE and Chrome (although Edge needs to up its game to keep up with the rest).
To take a walk down memory lane, here’s a visual history of IE’s life development.