Internet Explorer retired after nearly three decades

Microsoft’s Internet Explorer browser is retiring today after nearly three decades running.

June 15, 2022 was the date Microsoft announced they would no longer offer support for its Internet Explorer browser. The company announced the date last year, urging users to migrate to the new Edge browser released in 2015.

“Over the last year, you may have noticed our movement away from Internet Explorer (“IE”) support, such as an announcement of the end of IE support by Microsoft 365 online services. Today, we are at the next stage of that journey: we are announcing that the future of Internet Explorer on Windows 10 is in Microsoft Edge,” said Microsoft General Manager Sean Lyndersay in a May 2021 blog post.

Many understand the frustrations of having to wait for slow load times with IE. Microsoft understood as well. The Edge browser is built upon the Chromium open-source engine, which has supplied a measurable performance gain. Microsoft states, “In trials performed by Cerner Corporation, using Microsoft Edge WebView2 reduced render time by 85%, CPU utilization by 33%, and memory utilization by 32% vs. running their solutions using Internet Explorer.”

Microsoft states the end of support currently does not affect in-market Windows 10 LTSC or Server Internet Explorer 11 desktop applications.