Goodbyes are always hard. But after years of “Internet Explorer is not responding” error messages, this one may be a little easier.
Microsoft is finally pulling the plug on its first-ever internet browser after more than 27 years in action.
For many, this is a long time coming. Internet Explorer’s reputation as the most archaic and slow browser became a meme—for being the platform to download other web browsers on. But others are still deeply attached to the browser that first introduced them to the web.
View this interactive chart on Fortune.com
Microsoft first announced in May 2021 that it was planning to discontinue the web browser, saying at the time that “customers are encouraged to move to Microsoft Edge, which provides support for legacy and modern websites and apps.”
Sentimental sentiments
People online are getting nostalgic.
I did Not realized Internet Explorer was getting shut down TOMORROW. So i must say my thank you to IE quick.
Internet Explorer, you gave me access to a whole new world I never thought to be attached to for a life time, games, flash games, music, art, tv, movies, everything. pic.twitter.com/3RcnvTw82o
— GeolyteGM (@Geometry34258) June 15, 2022
“I’m still trying to process it,” Sam Maumalanga, a 31-year-old Polynesian dance instructor in Euless, Texas, told the Wall Street Journal. “I’ve used it for so long—it’s the first thing I get on on my laptop.”
“It’s crazy,” he adds. “All these years everyone has been using it, and all of a sudden they are going to take it away.”
Microsoft is shutting down Internet Explorer after 27 years. I'll always remember how in the 1990s the internet was the rave just like new social media apps and IPhones became the next rave. I'll miss these days.
R.I.P Internet Explorer 1995-2022🖥️ pic.twitter.com/CWb9etXiRN
— Cartoon Mastermind #NewDeal4Animation 🇺🇦 (@TomHamill2) June 15, 2022
Meanwhile others are taking one last crack at the browser on its way out.
“This is so sad I’m going to tell Internet Explore that [it] can not be my default browser one last time,” one user wrote on Reddit.
Microsoft prepares to retire internet explorer, it's 27 year old browser
Chrome users : pic.twitter.com/5C8unTqcu6
— SwatKat💃 (@swatic12) June 13, 2022
Microsoft announced that Internet Explorer is shutting down after 27 years on June 15, 2022#InternetExplorer pic.twitter.com/sP1UInXloJ
— Sagar Suhindero (@Rahimbuxsagar) June 13, 2022
Still others argue that Explorer’s death makes the Internet a bleaker place for serious reasons.
“I don’t exactly have fond Internet Explorer memories, but I really don’t like the idea that Google practically has a monopoly on both the browser and search market,” another user wrote on Reddit, linking to a story on a $5 million class-action lawsuit against Google for tracking users even in incognito mode.
Google Chrome has two-thirds of the user share for web browsers, according to StatCounter, and controls 90% of the online search market.
But while most online commenters are watching the burial of Internet Explorer from a distance because they haven’t used the browser for years, there is an air of panic in Japan. With its aging population, Japanese businesses and government agencies are still heavily dependent on Explorer. A survey conducted by Keyman’s Net in March found around 49% of companies in Japan are still using the browser.
Internet Explorer support ending is headline news. “Serious problem for many companies” pic.twitter.com/cTl44ZjkJB
— Alan Bradburne (@alanb) June 12, 2022
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
