Explorer no more: Old-school browser to be retired next year

ANKARA

After a quarter-century of surfing the net, a member of the web’s Old Guard is headed off into that great cloud in the sky.

Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, an upgraded vintage 1995 web browser – introduced a year after Amazon.com, and nine years before Facebook – will be retired next year, the US-based software giant announced late Wednesday

The intrepid explorer is passing the baton to the Microsoft Edge web browser on Windows 10 platforms.

"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," Microsoft Edge Program Manager Sean Lyndersay said in a blog post.

Microsoft Edge, however, will have an Internet Explorer mode built in, so that users can access legacy Explorer-based websites and applications straight from Edge.

Currently in its 11th desktop version, Internet Explorer will lose tech support as of June 15, 2022. As of this Aug. 17, Explorer 11 will no longer be supported for Microsoft’s online services such as Office 365, OneDrive, and Outlook, said Lyndersay.

While Explorer was first introduced in August 1995 as an add-on package with Windows 95 Plus, Edge has been around since 2015.

Explorer has long lost internet users to more modern browsers such as Firefox, Chrome, and Opera.