The venerable Internet Explorer web browser has taken another step in its slow march toward extinction. Today, Microsoft announced when it would be halting support for the software and pulling the plug on integrations with other Windows software.
When Microsoft first released Internet Explorer almost exactly 25 years ago, it quickly overtook Netscape Navigator, and became the reference standard for online browsing experiences. In 2003, it achieved its peak market penetration with a dominating 95% usage share of browser traffic. Its influence paved the way for the browsers that eventually eclipsed it, including Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome. Though the browser's heyday has long past, it was relevant more recently than memory may serve. The Xbox One console initially launched with Internet Explorer support, and underwent several facelifts.
Now, having already discontinued Internet Explorer, Microsoft will be halting support for Internet Explorer 11 altogether on November 30 of this year. Furthermore, it will disable all software integrations with other windows products, such as Microsoft 365 Apps including Outlook, Word, and Excel one year from now. Even compared to the recent loss of a few titles on Xbox Game Pass, the elimination of Internet Explorer will likely have a minor impact on gamers—many of whom have come of age since the browser was eclipsed by other software.
Internet Explorer's final death was a very long time coming and the reasons behind its forced retirement are not hard to parse. Internet Explorer has been a relic for some time, both in terms of browsing speed and available features. More pressingly, updating the browser's security is a resource-draining challenge that effectively requires Microsoft to fight a browser cyber-security war on two fronts, which costs no small amount of resources.
Microsoft released a new web browser, Microsoft Edge, in 2015 with the launch of Windows 10 and Xbox One in 2015. Edge cannot be uninstalled from Windows machines, and despite the operating system's heavy automated prompts pushing it as the default browser, Edge has yet to gain the same traction that Internet Explorer achieved at its peak. Even after receiving a Chromium-based rework in 2019, Edge appears to be a hard sell to users, and the legacy, non-Chromium version of Edge will also no longer be supported as of March 9, 2021.
Even though these browser cancellations will likely go unmourned, they could mean good things for gamers using Microsoft platforms. A narrower focus on a single browser could mean better security for Xbox and PC, as well as more resources going toward quality of life features, like the user interface improvements in the new Xbox Series X dashboard.
Microsoft Internet Explorer 11 is still currently available for download and use. Support for the browser will halt on November 30th, 2020.
Source: GameSpot