UPDATE — 15 June 2021: Internet historians, the time has finally come. Internet Explorer is no more. Long live that ancient browser and all the viruses I accidentally downloaded on it as a child.
It was announced that Internet Explorer would be officially shut down in May 2021. But still, a part of me never thought we would see the day.
I have many a fond memory of getting home from school, running to our “computer room” and whiling away the twilight hours before dinner on Moshi Monsters and onedirectionfacts.tumblr.com. Did you know Harry Styles has four nipples? 14-year-old me certainly did.
The death of Internet Explorer means most versions of Windows 10 will no longer support the program. Instead, it’ll be part of Microsoft Edge which the company introduced back in 2015.
Per the ABC, there’s an Internet Explorer Mode in Microsoft Edge which allows people to access really old websites that might not function on more sophisticated browsers.
While Internet Explorer may be iconic, by 2021 it wasn’t exactly widely used.
The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) commissioned a Roy Morgan survey in September of last year.
Internet Explorer was the second most recognised browser after Google Chrome with 85 per cent of consumers saying they were aware of it. But only 28 per cent of people had it on their computers.
Kind of legendary behaviour from Internet Explorer TBF. And it’s given us some good memories over the years, like desperately trying to load Zoella videos on YouTube. Ah, the sweet memories of youth.
Internet explorer older than me??????? https://t.co/4TZG9Rs3mk
— HOOD VOGUE is tired of poverty (@keyon) June 15, 2022
Liza Minnelli has outlived the Internet Explorer Browser. After 27 years, Microsoft is officially shutting it down. pic.twitter.com/gUxeJu688e
— LizaMinnelliOutlives (@LiZaOutlives) June 15, 2022
is Internet Explorer ever truly dead? pic.twitter.com/KQGndprUxn
— Tom Warren (@tomwarren) June 14, 2022
I never thought I’d say this, but I’ll even missed that dreaded “Internet Explorer has stopped working” pop up box. A relic of a simpler time.
ORIGINAL — 20 May 2021
In news that is deeply upsetting to your Mum and anyone trying to download Google Chrome, Microsoft is ~finally~ shutting down its Internet Explorer browser after 26 years on the market.
Microsoft Daddy (and soon-to-be divorcee) Bill Gates and the big bosses at the company have announced that the web browser, which first launched in *checks notes* 1995, will shut down on the 15th of June 2022. According to a Microsoft blog post, the latest version of the program will be retired next year and no longer supported by most versions of Windows 10.
“The future of Internet Explorer on Windows 10 is in Microsoft Edge,” they wrote. “Not only is Microsoft Edge a faster, more secure and more modern browsing experience than Internet Explorer, but it is also able to address a key concern: compatibility for older, legacy websites and applications.”
Understandably, the news has reminded everyone of our childhood internet browser from the ’00s back when we literally hooked the internet into our veins (and wall sockets). Oh, and Internet Explorer cakes.
immensely surprised to find out that dora the explorer is internet explorer’s grand daughter
— DON कि YETi? (@donkiyeti) May 18, 2021
will someone please think of the Internet Explorer cakes pic.twitter.com/LEjMgHPV8W
— Tom Warren (@tomwarren) May 19, 2021
“The future of Internet Explorer on Windows 10 is in Microsoft Edge”
That’s like saying that the future of my wife is another woman with a different name.
— Paul Thurrott (@thurrott) May 19, 2021
RIP Internet Explorer, you were the best at downloading Chrome. 😞
— Matt Daemon (@RedlineWusky) May 19, 2021
Personally, while it confirmed something the rest of us all knew (Internet Explorer is bad and it should feel bad), it left me wondering something else: will this be the end of the cringe-worthy early 2000’s era of internet browser memes, too?
Class, for a good example of what I’m talking about, please turn to page 22 of your PDF textbooks, AKA the images below.
Remember Philosoraptor? How about Overly Attached Girlfriend or the head of Valve, Gabe Newell? Unironically calling things epic? Using the cursed troll face? Well, Internet Explorer does and now that it’s going they should, too. Throw all this shit in the Recycle Bin and delete it. Permanently.
If, for some bonkers reason, you already miss the halcyon days of IE telling you it’s “stopped working” for loading more than two tabs, you’ll be pleased to know that Microsoft’s somewhat better browser, Microsoft Edge, has now well and truly taken its place.
Personally, I’ll miss Internet Explorer. It was a real time capsule of internet culture and how awkwardly endearing and embarrassing we can all be online. And, just like seeing old photos of me from high school, I have lived ever since in a constant state of we do not see it.