Google Search has now officially stopped supporting Internet Explorer 11, which is the real life equivalent of shooting a dead horse after years of kicking its poor carcass.
This author apologizes for starting on such a cynical note, but where the Internet Explorer browser is concerned, it almost seems appropriate to do so. The infamous platform has been joked about and criticized on any number of reasons almost since its inception back in 1995. That's a whopping 26 years of ridicule and mockery, something that almost became a staple of the Explorer brand of browsers. Criticism was mainly aimed at how unbearably slow it was at even the most basic of tasks, such as dredging up a simple search. It was also lambasted for issues with privacy and security vulnerabilities inherent in the code. As soon as other browsers such as Google Chrome and Firefox gained popularity, Internet Explorer simply ended up becoming a tool to download those browsers.
Yet, this final nail on a coffin that hardly needs any more does still feels like a somber step. Perhaps it's a feeling that only older users are familiar with; individuals that have had to make do with Explorer and its idiosyncrasies and learned to live with them. It almost feels like saying goodbye to an old, albeit very annoying, friend. It's the sort of silly sentiment that people rarely ever fully rid themselves of. The attachment to CDs when we have digital playlists, a penchant for older cameras despite having very effective newer ones. Internet Explorer 11 was the last of the browser's versions, released in 2016, as Microsoft decided it wanted to move forward with the much more efficient Edge. 11 will be the last we ever see of Internet Explorer again, outside of ironic memorials and memes.
It's not as if no one in the current generation is familiar with Internet Explorer and its oddities. A StatCounter report from 2021 displayed that Explorer held a share equivalent just over 1.32% of the browser market. While that seems excessively insignificant (Chrome's share is around 67%), considering the number of people that use the internet, there are people in the thousands that still have access to Explorer. Of course, they also seem to move towards better prospects the literal second they can, or learn of them.
Ultimately, it is with a solemn heart, and a bemused smirk, that we offer our goodbyes to Internet Explorer. While it will continue to exist onwards, the browser's disconnect from Google Search will make it essentially invisible to the general populace. So farewell and adieu, Explorer. May flights of angels sing thee to thy rest, in the 5 years it takes them to get to you anyways.
Read next: Windows 11 Reaches 1.3% Market Share Ahead of Launch
This author apologizes for starting on such a cynical note, but where the Internet Explorer browser is concerned, it almost seems appropriate to do so. The infamous platform has been joked about and criticized on any number of reasons almost since its inception back in 1995. That's a whopping 26 years of ridicule and mockery, something that almost became a staple of the Explorer brand of browsers. Criticism was mainly aimed at how unbearably slow it was at even the most basic of tasks, such as dredging up a simple search. It was also lambasted for issues with privacy and security vulnerabilities inherent in the code. As soon as other browsers such as Google Chrome and Firefox gained popularity, Internet Explorer simply ended up becoming a tool to download those browsers.
Yet, this final nail on a coffin that hardly needs any more does still feels like a somber step. Perhaps it's a feeling that only older users are familiar with; individuals that have had to make do with Explorer and its idiosyncrasies and learned to live with them. It almost feels like saying goodbye to an old, albeit very annoying, friend. It's the sort of silly sentiment that people rarely ever fully rid themselves of. The attachment to CDs when we have digital playlists, a penchant for older cameras despite having very effective newer ones. Internet Explorer 11 was the last of the browser's versions, released in 2016, as Microsoft decided it wanted to move forward with the much more efficient Edge. 11 will be the last we ever see of Internet Explorer again, outside of ironic memorials and memes.
It's not as if no one in the current generation is familiar with Internet Explorer and its oddities. A StatCounter report from 2021 displayed that Explorer held a share equivalent just over 1.32% of the browser market. While that seems excessively insignificant (Chrome's share is around 67%), considering the number of people that use the internet, there are people in the thousands that still have access to Explorer. Of course, they also seem to move towards better prospects the literal second they can, or learn of them.
Ultimately, it is with a solemn heart, and a bemused smirk, that we offer our goodbyes to Internet Explorer. While it will continue to exist onwards, the browser's disconnect from Google Search will make it essentially invisible to the general populace. So farewell and adieu, Explorer. May flights of angels sing thee to thy rest, in the 5 years it takes them to get to you anyways.
Read next: Windows 11 Reaches 1.3% Market Share Ahead of Launch
