Internet Explorer

Internet Explorer (formerly Microsoft Internet Explorer and Windows Internet Explorer, and commonly abbreviated as IE or MSIE) is a discontinued series of graphical web browsers developed by Microsoft. It was first released as a part of the add-on package Plus! for Windows 95 in 1995. It had since been included with every version of Microsoft Windows until Windows 10.

Internet Explorer has multiple versions, such as a version for embedded OEM devices running Windows Phone, Windows CE, and Windows Mobile (the latter was based on Internet Explorer 7) called Pocket Internet Explorer (later rebranded Internet Explorer Mobile), a version for the Xbox, and a version for the Macintosh and UNIX. Internet Explorer for Mac and Internet Explorer for UNIX have been discontinued.

On March 17, 2015, Microsoft announced that Microsoft Edge will replace Internet Explorer as the default browser for Windows 10 devices, effectively making IE11 the last release. It remained on versions of Windows 10 until 21H1 for legacy purposes.

History
Internet Explorer's first version, dubbed Microsoft Internet Explorer, was installed as part of Microsoft Plus! for Windows 95 on August 16, 1995. It is a revamped version of Mosaic Spyglass, which Microsoft had licensed from Spyglass, Inc. Because Internet Explorer was completely free, Microsoft was not required to pay royalties to Spyglass. This later resulted in a lawsuit, which was settled for US$8 million on January 22, 1997.

Replacement and end of support
Microsoft Edge, officially unveiled on January 21, 2015, replaced Internet Explorer as the default browser on Windows 10. IE continued to be available for legacy purposes until its final build ((20H2) on October 20, 2020.

Support for Internet Explorer by Microsoft 365 was ended on August 17, 2021. Internet Explorer is no longer installed on systems that come with Windows 11, which will instead include Microsoft Edge with an Internet Explorer (IE) mode for any legacy websites that require it. Remaining support for IE by Microsoft will be retired on June 15, 2022.