Microsoft Retires Internet Explorer After 27 Years, Twitter Gets Nostalgic

Explorer was launched in 1995 as an add-on package for Windows 95, but was later released as a program that could be downloaded for free.

(Photo: The Quint)

Microsoft is finally pulling the plug on Internet Explorer, which has been around for 27 years and was the world's most popular browser for over a decade. Support for the latest version will end on Wednesday, 15 June.

Explorer was launched in 1995 as an add-on package for Windows 95, but was later released as a program that could be downloaded for free or was preinstalled in personal computers.

In 2003, it hit peak popularity, occupying about 95 percent of the market, after which it saw a gradual decline. Google released Chrome in late 2008, and Microsoft released Edge in 2015, which was the final nail in the coffin for Internet Explorer.

In 2010 it stopped being the market leader and now its share is only about two percent. Towards the end of its life, Internet Explorer was mainly used for legacy internet applications, but that functionality has now shifted to Edge.

'End of an Error': Twitter Says Goodbye

Because of its dominance in the late 1990s and the decade that followed, many millennials grew up with Internet Explorer.

Even though the browser has become fodder for memes in the past several years due to how slow it is compared to modern rivals, it still holds a place in the hearts of most '90s kids.

Twitter users gave it a fitting farewell.