Internet Explorer

Internet Explorer
Component of Microsoft Windows
Internet Explorer 10+11 logo.svg
InternetExplorer-11.0.22621.1-MainWindow.png
File name/executableiexplore.exe
Included inMicrosoft Plus! Companion for Windows 95
Windows 95 OSR 1-Windows 10
Mac OS 8-Mac OS X Tiger
Replaced by
Microsoft Edge

Internet Explorer is a web browser designed by Microsoft as its first venture into the web browser market. The initial version of the browser was incarnated from Spyglass Mosaic, which Microsoft licensed for a modest quarterly fee and a share of the non-Windows product revenues. As Microsoft decided to distribute Internet Explorer "free of charge" with their Windows operating system, they were able to avoid most royalties.

Due to the browser's inclusion starting from the Windows 9x series and beyond, it sparked a three-year-long antitrust lawsuit that lasted until November 2001. The browser quickly overtook Netscape in the first browser war and retained ~95% of its market share until the early 2000s, when popular alternative browsers such as Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome came to market, sparking the second browser war.

Internet Explorer was notorious for disobeying set web standards by the W3C until version 9, when Microsoft took a new commitment to HTML5 and web standards. Microsoft ceased active development of Internet Explorer after Windows 8.1 was released in 2013, making Internet Explorer 11 the final version of Internet Explorer. It was eventually replaced by Microsoft Edge in 2015.

End of Life[edit | edit source]

On 17 August 2020, Microsoft announced that Microsoft 365 apps will no longer support Internet Explorer starting on 30 November 2020 with the Microsoft Teams Web App, followed by all other 365 apps on 17 August 2021.

Microsoft discontinued Internet Explorer on 15 June 2022.[1] As of Windows 10 build 21387, the browser's functionality has been disabled and attempting to open its executable will instead redirect the user to Microsoft Edge, though it is still possible to run Internet Explorer through various workarounds, such as replacing ieframe.dll with a copy from an older build; by invoking it by bringing up the Internet Options Control Panel applet and clicking on the Programs tab, then clicking Manage add-ons; by clicking on Learn more about toolbars and extensions or use a .vbs file:

Internet Explorer .vbs file:

CreateObject("InternetExplorer.Application").Visible=true

Versions[edit | edit source]

Version Release date Included in Notes
1.0 24 August 1995[2][3] Microsoft Plus! for Windows 95
  • First version to be released publicly
  • Included in some OEM editions of Windows 95.
1.5 January 1996 Intermediate release for Windows 3.1x and Windows NT 3.51 to bridge the gap between IE 1 and 2
2.0 27 November 1995 (Windows 95)
23 April 1996 (3.1x, NT 3.51, Mac OS)
Windows 95 OSR1
Windows NT 4.0
Nashville (alpha)
  • First version to be included with Windows
  • First version for DEC Alpha, MIPS and PowerPC architectures
2.1 1996 Intermediate release for Windows 3.1x and Windows NT 3.51 to bridge the gap between IE 2 and 3
3.0 13 August 1996 (Windows)
8 January 1997 (Mac OS)
Windows 95 OSR2 (3.0)
Windows 95 OSR2.1 (3.02)
  • Major UI changes
  • First version to include Internet Mail and News
  • Includes Easter egg in Internet Mail and News
  • Last version for MIPS and PowerPC architectures
  • Introduces support for HTTP 1.1
4.0 22 September 1997 Windows 95 OSR2.5 (4.0)
Windows NT 4.0 Terminal Server Edition (4.01, optional)
Windows 98 (4.01 SP1)
Windows 98 SP1 (4.01 SP2)
  • First version to include Windows Desktop Update
  • Renames Internet Mail and News to Outlook Express
  • New design for the About box, including an Easter egg
  • First version ported to the UNIX derivatives HP-UX and Solaris and, as such, the first version for the SPARC and PA-RISC architectures
  • Last version for m68k-based Macs
  • Replaced the rendering engine from Spyglass with Trident on Windows
4.5 1999 Released for classic Mac OS
5.0 18 March 1999 Windows 98 SE (5.0)
Windows 2000 (5.01)
Neptune (5.01 pre-RTM, mixed with 5.5 beta)
  • Last 16-bit version designed for Windows 3.1x and Windows NT 3.51
  • Last UNIX version for HP-UX and Solaris
  • Last version for DEC Alpha, PA-RISC and SPARC architectures
5.1 2000 Last version for classic Mac OS
5.2 2001 Mac OS X Cheetah to Mac OS X Tiger[a] Only version for Mac OS X
5.5 19 June 2000 Windows Me
  • Last version for Windows 95
  • Updated cipher strength in Windows 9x to 128-bit
5.6 2000 From Windows XP build 2210 to 2296
6 24 August 2001 Windows XP
Windows Server 2003
  • Last version for Windows NT 4.0, 98 (SE), 2000 and Me
  • Can be installed unofficially on Windows 95 with patches
  • Last version with Windows Explorer integration
  • First 64-bit version for the IA-64 and AMD64 architectures
7 18 October 2006 Windows Vista
Windows Server 2008
  • Updates UI to a Vista-style design
  • Introduces Tab support
  • FTP sites are now opened in the browser, but there is still a option to open these in Windows Explorer
  • Early installers for Windows XP and Server 2003 require a Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) check
  • Last IA-64 version designed for Windows Server 2003 (R2) and 2008
8 19 March 2009 Windows 7
Windows Server 2008 R2
  • Last version for Windows XP and Server 2003
  • Last version for the IA-64 architecture
9 14 March 2011
  • Simplified user interface
  • First version since 1.0 to no longer be included in any Windows version
  • Improvements to HTML5 and JavaScript support, such as the introduction of the JavaScript engine Chakra
  • Last version for Windows Vista and Server 2008
10 26 October 2012 Windows 8
Windows Server 2012
  • First Metro-based version for Windows 8
  • First version for the ARM32 architecture
11 17 October 2013 Windows 8.1
Windows Server 2012 R2
Windows 10
Windows Server 2016
Windows Server 2019
Windows Server 2022
  • Last version to be released
  • Disabled by default in Windows 11
  • Replaced with Microsoft Edge
  • Released for Windows Embedded 8 Standard and Windows Server 2012 without the Metro-based edition in 2019
  • Not for Windows 8, but can be installed unofficially

Compatibility[edit | edit source]

Windows for Workgroups 3.1x Windows NT 3.51 Windows 95 Windows 95 OSR1 Windows NT 4.0 Windows 95 OSR2 Windows 95 OSR2.5 Windows NT 4.0 Terminal Server Edition Windows 98 Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack 6a Windows 98 Second Edition Windows 2000 Windows Me Windows XP Windows XP Service Pack 2 Windows Server 2003 Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2 Windows Vista Windows 7 Windows Vista Service Pack 2 Windows 7 Service Pack 1 Windows 8 Windows Server 2012 Windows Embedded 8 Windows 8.1 Windows 10 Windows 11
Internet Explorer 1 A A Y N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N
Internet Explorer 1.5 A A N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N
Internet Explorer 2 A A A Y Y A A A N Y N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N
Internet Explorer 2.1 A A N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N
Internet Explorer 3 A A A A A Y N A N A N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N
Internet Explorer 4 A A A A A A Y Y Y A N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N
Internet Explorer 5 A A A A A A A A A A Y Y N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N
Internet Explorer 5.5 N N A A A A A A A A A A Y N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N
Internet Explorer 6 N N N N N N N A A A A A A Y Y Y Y Y N N N N N N N N N N
Internet Explorer 7 N N N N N N N N N N N N N N A N A A Y N Y N N N N N N N
Internet Explorer 8 N N N N N N N N N N N N N N A N N A A Y A Y N N N N N N
Internet Explorer 9 N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N A A A N N N N N N
Internet Explorer 10 N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N A N A Y Y Y N N N
Internet Explorer 11 N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N A N A A Y Y Y
Legend:
Not available
Available
Preinstalled

Notes[edit | edit source]

  1. Starting with Mac OS X Panther, Internet Explorer is no longer installed by default in favor of Safari.

References[edit | edit source]