Internet Explorer was once the most widely used web browser. Internet Explorer (abbreviated as IE or MSIE) is a series of graphical web browsers developed by Microsoft and included in the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems, starting in 1995. It was first released as part of the add-on package Plus! for Windows 95 that year. Later versions were available as free downloads, or in service packs, and included in the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) service releases of Windows 95 and later versions of Windows. The browser is discontinued but still maintained. Attaining a peak of about 95% usage share by 2003.
Versions of Internet Explorer for other operating systems have also been produced, including an Xbox 360 version called Internet Explorer for Xbox and for platforms Microsoft no longer supports.
On March 17, 2015, Microsoft announced that Microsoft Edge would replace Internet Explorer as the default browser on its Windows 10 devices. This effectively makes Internet Explorer 11 the last release.
Internet Explorer, however, remains on Windows 10 and Windows Server 2019 primarily for enterprise purposes.
For now, many new web browsers have overtaken it like Chrome, Firefox, Opera – and for good reason. And likely less than 10% of people use IE today.
So, why you shouldn’t use Internet Explorer anymore?
Let's find out -
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Over the years, IE has been plagued by bugs, security problems, and performance issues.
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Microsoft stopped supporting versions 7, 8, 9, and 10 of IE back on Jan 12, 2016. That means no patches or security updates, which makes your PC more vulnerable to viruses and malware.
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There are also no more patches or fixes, which is bad news for software that has such a long history of bugs and oddities.
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However, even on Microsoft own product support pages, they encourage users to download their new browser Microsoft Edge over Internet Explorer.
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Internet Explorer is a web designer’s worst nightmare. Web browsers read the code on a website and interpret how they should visually display that information to you. Most web browsers do this in a similar way - but not Internet Explorer.
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IE, especially older versions, are notorious for displaying websites differently than other browsers. That means your company’s website may look great on your screen, but if your customer is using one an old version of IE, it may look terrible.
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According to most benchmarks, Internet Explorer, even the latest version, is still significantly slower than its competitors. IE took 9.88 seconds to load a new site, where most of the users will actually stop trying to visit a webpage if it takes more than 4 seconds to load.
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According to Microsoft, development of new features for Internet Explorer has ceased. However, it will continue to be maintained as part of the support policy for the versions of Windows with which it is included.
Thankfully, you have a lot more choices for web browsers today than just Internet Explorer. Which one you should choose mainly depends on what platform or device you’re using, and what features you find most important. Let’s look at a few of the most popular options, including Google Chrome, Firefox, Opera, Safari, and Microsoft Edge.
Stock photo from Lucian Milasan
