On Wednesday, June 15, 2022, Microsoft will officially withdraw Internet Explorer (derogatory: Internet Exploder) at the age of 27. It was preceded by the death of MS Paint. Most likely, the browser will be sent to a farm at the top of the state, where it will be able to spend the rest of its days running vulnerable security points and leaking all the memory it wants. “If you are a web developer working on a modern website or application, we know you have been waiting for this day for a long time,” Microsoft wrote in a blog post last spring announcing the change. “Internet Explorer is becoming increasingly difficult to support alongside modern browsers.” The browser was born in 1995 and, to the great concern of Netscape Navigator’s competitor, soon became an integral part of Microsoft’s Windows operating system. The package deal gave Microsoft a huge advantage as it tried to steal market share from its older, more established rival. In 1997, with Browser Wars in full swing, Microsoft engineers celebrated the release of Internet Explorer 4.0 by secretly tossing a version of the program-sized car logo, a giant “e”, onto the front lawn of Netscape headquarters. Netscape retaliated by hitting the structure and placing their mascot, a six-legged dinosaur named Mozilla, on top. A Netscape spokesman at the time told the San Francisco Chronicle that they were surprised that the world’s largest software company would resort to “immature fraternity tactics”. By 1999, thanks to its mandatory inclusion in Windows, Internet Explorer had 99% of the market – and the attention of antitrust regulators around the world. A European commission has ordered Microsoft to offer other web browser options, later imposing a € 561 million fine on the company for non-compliance. The Internet has changed dramatically in the intervening years. Undoubtedly, much of this innovation comes from antitrust action that has prevented Microsoft from fully controlling its growth. Netscape is living in a reincarnated form through Mozilla Firefox, a nonprofit open source project that released its 100th release in May. Internet Explorer survived Microsoft Edge, a younger sibling born in 2015.
