Internet & Communication · Reviewed
Internet Explorer
Microsoft's long-running web browser, distributed widely with Windows and influential in both the expansion of web access and the development of browser compatibility practices.
Overview
Internet Explorer provides web browsing through Microsoft's historical browser engines and Windows integration. Its features expanded from basic page navigation into scripting, enterprise configuration and application hosting. Many organizations built internal sites around its particular behaviors and technologies.
That integration also produced lasting dependencies, including ActiveX-based applications and document modes. The retired desktop application and Internet Explorer mode in Edge have different roles and support rules. Compatibility with a legacy site should therefore be discussed in terms of the exact browser component and Windows environment.
Key features
- Web navigation and scripting
- Trident rendering in later generations
- Windows and enterprise integration
- Historical ActiveX support
- Legacy compatibility modes
Historical significance
Internet Explorer's history shows how operating-system distribution can reshape a software market. It also records the long-term cost of building websites around implementation-specific behavior. Its legacy is visible both in mainstream access to the early web and in the compatibility work required as organizations move older applications to newer browsers.
History and development
Microsoft introduced Internet Explorer in 1995, initially using technology licensed from Spyglass. Distribution with Windows greatly expanded its reach and intensified competition with Netscape. Later releases developed the Trident engine and extensive ties to enterprise web applications.
Microsoft introduced Edge as a successor browser in 2015. The Internet Explorer 11 desktop application was retired on specified Windows versions in June 2022, with later disabling changes on affected systems. Microsoft retained selected compatibility mechanisms for organizations, so the desktop retirement did not mean that every IE-related component disappeared simultaneously.