Internet Explorer browser

This page was last updated at: May 5, 2026

Internet Explorer was a Desktop web browser that ran on Windows. It was developed by Microsoft. It was developed for about 27 years before being discontinued.

Internet Explorer was once the most popular web browser, with a massive 95% market share in 2003. It's popularity started to decrease with the release of Firefox and Chrome, as well as the increase in usage of mobile browsers.

Note: Internet Explorer had several variants that ran on very different operating systems. We count these variants as totally seperate browsers (eg "Internet Explorer for UNIX" and "Internet Explorer for Mac" are presumably very different to the traditional Internet Explorer browser featured on this page).

About Internet Explorer

Browser URL www.microsoft.com/en-au/download/internet-explorer.aspx
Browser made by Microsoft
Development Status Discontinued
The developers have announced that the browser won't be developed any more
Launched 1995
Discontinued 2022
Operating System Windows
Device platform Desktop
Rendering Engine Trident
Wikipedia Article https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Explorer

Internet Explorer milestones

  1. Initial release of Internet Explorer
    Included in the Plus! addon for Windows 95
  2. Internet Explorer 2.0 released
    For Windows 95 and NT
    Read more
  3. Internet Explorer 3.0 released
    Read more
  4. Internet Explorer 4.0 released
    Includes Active Desktop, FrontPage, Chat, and more. Switches from SpyGlass engine to Trident.
    Read more
  5. Internet Explorer 5.0 released
    Read more
  6. Internet Explorer 6.0 released
    Read more
  7. Internet Explorer 7.0 released
    Read more
  8. Internet Explorer 8.0 released
    Read more
  9. Internet Explorer 9.0 released
    Read more
  10. Internet Explorer 10 released
  11. Internet Explorer 11 released
    Read more
  12. Microsoft announces that Edge will replace Internet Explorer
  13. Support for Internet Explorer officially ends

Check out other browsers similar to Internet Explorer

These web browsers have something in common with Internet Explorer, you could test them out and compare them.