Microsoft Internet Explorer

Microsoft Internet Explorer (MSIE or IE) was a web browser developed by Microsoft for Macintosh and Windows. Internet Explorer was included with all Windows operating systems from Windows 95 to 10. However, Windows 11 has switched to Microsoft Edge as its default browser.

History
In August 1997, Apple co-founder Steve Jobs announced at Macworld Expo Boston that Internet Explorer would be included by default with future Mac OS releases for the next 5 years. In return, Microsoft agreed to continue developing software such as Microsoft Office for the Mac and make an investment of $150 million in Apple non-voting stock. Though the joint announcement and Bill Gates' appearance on live video were met with shock, the investment from Microsoft helped save Apple from bankruptcy. After the conclusion of the 5 year period, Apple introduced their own Safari web browser in January 2003 to replace Internet Explorer on Mac OS X. Since 2012, Internet Explorer and Firefox had lost global market share to Chrome and Safari.

End of support
Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.2.1 was the last version released for Mac OS X on July 11, 2003. Microsoft announced on July 13, 2003 that Internet Explorer would no longer be supported on Macs. Internet Explorer 6 for Windows also fell out of favor for web usage due to feature bloat and frustratingly poor performance.

With the release of Microsoft Edge for Windows 10 in 2015, Internet Explorer was deprecated for Windows. In May 2021, Microsoft announced that Internet Explorer would be retired in favor of Edge. Support for Internet Explorer ended on June 15, 2022, affecting 49% of Japanese businesses, which had procrastinated in updating their websites.