Microsoft retires Internet Explorer after nearly 30 years of service

Internet Explorer, the longtime web browser that led countless users onto the early Internet on Microsoft operating systems, is officially no longer compatible with Windows, the company announced this week.

In a blog post on Microsoft’s website, Sean Lyndersay—the general manager to the Windows web browser Microsoft Edge Enterprise—explained the decision by nothing that “the web has evolved and so have browsers.” 

“Incremental improvements to Internet Explorer couldn’t match the general improvements to the web at large, so we started fresh,” he wrote, calling Microsoft Edge “a faster, more secure and modern browser—the best browser for Windows—designed for today’s internet.”

Lyndersay pointed out that Edge comes with an “Internet Explorer mode” so that users can still access web features currently only available for IE.

“If you have ever used IE to explore the internet, we want to share our deepest thanks for being a part of this journey with us,” he wrote.