Tag Archives: Internet Explorer

Microsoft Is Retiring The Internet Explorer Browser

Microsoft,

Microsoft has announced it will kill off its much-maligned legacy internet browser Internet Explorer close to 27 years after it graced desktop computers in 1995, The Guardian reported. From June 15, the desktop app will be disabled and users will be redirected to Microsoft’s Edge browser instead.

On the Windows Experience Blog, Microsoft explained what happens now for everyday users.

The future of Internet Explorer is in Microsoft Edge. Internet Explore (IE) has been retired and is no longer supported. If any site you visit needs Internet Explorer, you can reload it with IE mode in Microsoft Edge. Select “Continue” to get started with Microsoft Edge, the fast and secure browser built for Windows.

Your favorites, passwords, history, cookies, and other browser data will be automatically brought over to Microsoft Edge so you can seamlessly continue browsing. You can manage this later in Settings on Microsoft Edge.

Engadget reported that, just short of its 27th birthday, Microsoft will no longer support the Internet Explorer 11 desktop app for Windows 10’s usual Semi Annual Channel as of June 15th. According to Engadget, you’ll still receive IE11 support if you’re using Windows Server 2022 or an earlier iOS release with a long-term service extension. But this marks the end of software updates for most people.

Wikipedia provides some history of Internet Explorer. It was formerly called Microsoft Internet Explorer and Windows Internet Explorer. It was a series of graphical web browsers developed by Microsoft and included in the Microsoft Windows line of operations systems, starting in 1995. Microsoft spent over US $100 million per year on Internet Explorer in the late 1990s, with over 1,000 people involved in the project by 1999. Internet Explorer was once the most widely used web browser, attaining a peak of about 95% usage share by 2003.

Personally, I remember using Internet Explorer back in 1995, when I was in college. At the time, it seemed like a wonderful tool to use to look up things that some of my college classes required me to find online – and then make use of in a paper.

I don’t miss using Internet Explorer because I’ve since moved from a PC to a Mac. However, there are people who lament the loss of Internet Explorer. The Wall Street Journal reported that some people have developed emotional connections to their internet browsers.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Internet Explorer is just the latest technology to get tossed into the digital dump. Diehards clung to their BlackBerry devices long after much of the world moved on to candy-colored smartphones. Now, the demise of the old browser is prompting sentimental feelings.

Microsoft to Retire Internet Explorer in 2022

Microsoft,

Microsoft announced that the future of Internet Explorer on Windows 10 is Microsoft Edge. Microsoft stated that Microsoft Edge is a faster, more secure and more modern browsing experience than Internet Explorer, but is also to able to address a key concern: compatibility for older, legacy websites and applications.

The Verge eported that Internet Explorer has been around for more than 25 years. It has been largely unused by most consumers for years, and Microsoft is retiring it on June 15, 2022.

PCMag reported: “Originally launched in 1995, the much-maligned Internet Explorer has long been irrelevant in today’s consumer market. It holds a measly 3.8% share of the desktop browser space. Google’s Chrome dominates with a nearly 70% share.”

Microsoft provided some information for those who are currently using Internet Explorer:

If you’re a consumer using Internet Explorer at home, Microsoft recommends you transition to Microsoft Edge before June 15, 2022. Microsoft points out that you probably already have it on your device. To find it, search for “Microsoft Edge” using the Windows 10 search box or look for the icon. If you don’t have it, you can download Microsoft Edge.

If you’re an organization using Internet Explorer, Microsoft says you may have a surprisingly large set of legacy Internet Explorer-based websites and apps, built up over many years. According to Microsoft, they found that enterprises have 1,678 legacy apps on average. By moving to Microsoft Edge, organizations get improved compatibility, streamlined productivity, and better browser security plus the ability to extend the life of their legacy websites and apps well beyond the Internet Explorer 11 desktop application retirement date using IE mode.

Firefox 4’s First 48 Hours

browsers, Firefox, , , , ,

Firefox 4 was released a few days ago after what seemed like the most Beta versions a product has ever had (12 + the RC I think it was).  It had a lot to live up to since Firefox 3 is the record holder for the software with the most downloads in the first 24 hours – 8,002,530.  Plus, a week earlier, Microsoft released Internet Explorer 9 and did some strutting about their more-than-just-respectable 2.35 million.

The Mozilla blog just posted an interesting graphic depicting the numbers surrounding Firefox 4’s first 48 hours of life.  Among the numbers was the surprising fact that the high, but not record, download rate on day one (7.1 million) was surpassed on day 2 (8.75 million).  They also put some perspective on those numbers by pointing out such facts as the 48 hour average was 5,503 downloads per minute and the peak was 10,200 per minute.

If you haven’t yet installed it, then you can visit the Firefox download page and perhaps become part of the next Mozilla graphic.  I think they can rest easy that Ed Bott’s dire prediction can be written off for now – both Firefox 4 and IE9 are solid browsers that have a big place in the market.

Microsoft Wants to Kill Off Internet Explorer

Microsoft, Web Browsers, ,

Internet Explorer 6, that is. In 2011, IE6 will be 10 years old and to celebrate, Microsoft has decided to kill it off.  Not before time frankly.

Surprisingly, IE6 still has a worldwide market share of 12%, though this fell in the last year from 21%, so Microsoft’s target is to get IE6’s share down to 1% or less. And to publicise this, Microsoft has setup  an Internet Explorer 6 Countdown website which monitors use and provides some interesting facts and figures about the use of IE6 round the world.

For example, the IE6’s share of the browser market in China is 34.5% with South Korea at 24.8%. China’s use represents nearly half (5.9%) of the global use on its own. At the other end, usage in Finland and Norway is down to 0.9% and 0.7% respectively, which is where Microsoft wants it to be. The USA and UK are at 2.9% and 3.5%. Looking back at the peak of its popularity in 2002 and 2003, IE6 accounted for 90% of the browser market.

Microsoft is encouraging organisations to put a banner on their website that’s only visible to IE6 users and to stop supporting the browser. There are few big names on the list such as msn and CNET.

If you know anyone who is still using IE6, encourage them to upgrade to something more modern. Both they and the web will thank you for it.

Browser Market Share Shocker

Market share, Web Browsers, , , , , ,

It’s been a while since I paid attention to web traffic, specifically browser numbers.  So, what I saw today was a bit of a shock.

It seems things have been changing recently, on just about every front.

For a start, I thought Firefox was gaining share.  I seem to think I heard that in several places.  I also thought Explorer was losing, Chrome was on the rise, and Safari and Opera didn’t much play in this game.

But today, August 1, 2010, NetMarketShare released their July numbers for the browser battle.  And it seems that, not since Explorer vs Netscape, has there been this much of a battle.

For starters, IE has gained share for the second straight month – 59.75% > 60.32% > 60.74%.  Needless to say, Microsoft is touting this all they can.

The next shocker was that Firefox has LOST share – for the third straight month.  They have dropped from 24.59% to 22.91% since April, 2010.  Since I have a techie website, and see mostly Firefox and Chrome in my stats, I may be a little jaded here, but I honestly thought Firefox and Chrome were the big winners recently.

Chrome, it turns out, has also dropped some, though.  Not much, but 7.24% to 7.16% is a drop, none-the-less.  Especially since they have been on a steady upward trajectory since launch.  In fact, this their first drop ever.

Safari has been on a steady rise for the past few months, going from 4.24% in September 2009 to 5.09% in July 2010.  This was another shocker, since I had no idea anyone running Windows was using Safari.  But, Safari’s market share outpaces Apple’s OS which hangs in at 5.06% versus Windows’ 91.32%.  Is this making sense to anyone?

Finally, Opera, also has risen.  They remain far behind, but they rise little by little.  Again, it seems to be at the expense of Firefox and Chrome.  For July they topped out at 2.45% over June’s 2.27%.

As I mentioned, I run a techie site, much like this one, so my view is skewed.  But, most of my users are on Firefox and Chrome and I have seen no real drop in the numbers.  But, it looks like the masses are going with the defaults – IE and Safari.  With more people coming online all of the time this is a trend that could, against all odds, continue.  The third-world may rule our future after all.

My Internet Explorer 6 Eulogy

ie, , , , , ,

Last week, Internet Explorer 6 (IE6) got a full funeral and hopefully (soon) burial. I, too, am glad to see the older browser go: Even though there are some who will try to hold on for dear life. Nonetheless, if I was to have given a Eulogy for IE6, this is how it would have went.

You know, I remember when IE6 came out. IE4 and IE5 were the kings, except for those who were really into Netscape Navigator. IE5.5 really made me switch at the time, because I could have two versions on the computer for the first time.

Still, it was simpler times and IE6 was a stable young horse ready to jump out of the stall. I remember loading it for the first time on my Windows 98 machines. It brought in DHTML and CSS support, which was really starting to prove itself in the web page evolution. I could even get the Internet Explorer Administration Kit (IEAK), which would let me tweak my IE6 to my infrastructures needs. I really enjoyed changing the IE spinning logo with some custom logos throughout Internet Explorer’s life.

When we hit the dark days of IE7, I was an early adopter, but still had IE6 in my heart. It was the safer browser at the time, simply because the new features would make certain websites not work. I remember this one time I had a customer come in and say they couldn’t access the payroll site. After some troubleshooting, I finally had to walk over to their machine. Once I sat down I noticed things were changed.

“You installed IE7, didn’t you?” I muttered. Keep in mind that this was a smaller company and no real policies were put in place to dis-allow installations or upgrades by the customer (a.k.a. employee).

“I didn’t do anything,” they remarked. “It just started doing that.”

“But we said that this site will not run on IE7,” I replied. ” and you have IE7 installed”.

“Well, I don’t know how that got there.  But you can take it off, right?”

“Yes, I can. But please do not install IE7 on this machine until we tell you to …”

Ahh, those were the days when people got to look at their Yahoo email, play the fantasy football leagues and do a full day’s worth of stock trading without the IT department coming down on them. Heck, there were even a few “Pamela Anderson Playboy Screen savers” installed. Brings back memories.

However, IE6 really began to show it’s age. It started to become more of a hindrance than anything on computers. There was another place I worked, employees would have to access IE6 to get to the Citrix Virtual Machine session. They would then open up another version of IE6 to browse the web. IE7 was able to be installed, but it didn’t look great through the VM. That, and my supervisors would tell me not to spend time on updating, since the upcoming Daylight Savings Time fix took precedence.

My memories of IE6 are fond ones. When I heard that Google tried to revive the old gal, I was shocked. In a way, I wanted that to work – giving life once again to the browser. On the other hand, I thought that Frankenstiening the browser would only lead to more problems and two companies that would not really support the process.

So here we are. IE6 – You did us well. You brought us into the Windows XP era, which, too will soon need it’s own Eulogy. You showed us that we can create a webpage that can be altered at a shared source, instead of having to re-key every HTML page out there. You also survived Netscape Navigator and watched Mozilla Firefox usher in the new era.

Here’s to you, IE6. You were a good browser. I will leave you with my online Forum, who died an untimely death about a year ago.

That is what I would say…

Checking Your Website with Browsershots

Info, internet, Linux, mac, Software, Windows, , , , , , , , ,

I always forget about this website.  When I finally go there to check my site amongst OS browsers, I always find one small problem. Quick change in the CSS and everything is all better.

I am talking about Broswershots. They simply take my site and call it up using different browsers on all Operating Systems. Linux, PC, Mac and BSD checking the following browsers:

  • Avant
  • Chrome
  • Dillo
  • Epiphany
  • Firefox
  • Flock
  • K-Meleon
  • Galeon
  • Iceape
  • Iceweasel
  • Internet Explorer
  • Kazehakase
  • Konqueror
  • Minefield
  • Navigator
  • Opera
  • Safari
  • SeaMonkey
  • Shiretoko

I can also view the many versions of the browsers. Let’s say I am optimizing for Internet Explorer. I can check IE 4.0, 5.0, 7.0 or 8.0 on a Windows format. Check the boxes, enter the URL and away we go.

What Dillo sees of my websites from Browsershots

The process is not instantaneous. The service will set a 30 minute time limit which you can extent, but you have to physically be there to do so. If you checked all boxes, then you will definitely need to extend the process a couple times. It can also really show you how slow your website might load if you have an influx of users. One website I checked came up with all versions in about 10 minutes, yet another website (a little more PHP process driven) took a little more time.

Once your screenshots appear, you can view and download. Of course, this is dependent on the Internet connection at both sides, so you may have to request a new screenshot if you don’t see the proper results. For instance, IE 8.0 came back with a blank screen. I then told Broswershots to retry and the end result was perfect.

This website is pretty useful in detecting problems. Although I do have a PC, Mac and Ubuntu machine, I am really happy I don’t have to load up every browser on those machines. It’s about 80 different browsers and their versions to choose from. I am hoping soon they will also check across phone browsers. That will be a perfect addition to Browsershots.