SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Microsoft has officially sent Internet Explorer into retirement. As of Wednesday, Microsoft will no longer support the once-dominant browser that legions of web surfers loved to hate — and a few still claim to adore. Its launch in 1995 signaled the beginning of the end of the web’s first widely popular browser, Netscape Navigator. IE’s market share peaked in the early 2000s at over 90%. But it began to fade as users found faster, less crash-prone alternatives. Today, Google’s Chrome browser dominates with about 65% of the worldwide browser market share. IE’s heir, Microsoft Edge, lags with about about 4%.
Photo: FILE – The Microsoft Internet Explorer logo is projected on a screen during a Microsoft Xbox E3 media briefing in Los Angeles, June 4, 2012. As of Wednesday, June 15, 2022, Microsoft will no longer support the once-dominant browser that legions of web surfers loved to hate and a few still claim to adore. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)