When’s the last time you used it?
Internet Explorer was once so big, the federal government considered breaking up Microsoft. Now, the former web browser champion of the world is retiring.
A new browser, which has the unofficial name Spartan, will be included with Windows 10 when it's released later this year. Microsoft marketing head Chris Capossela broke the news at a conference Monday, according to The Verge.
Unlike Internet Explorer, the new browser will be designed to run on tablets, phones and regular Windows computers.
Internet Explorer was the standard web browser included with Windows for 20 years. In 2007, it had 80 percent market share on the Internet, CNBC reports. Its bundling with Windows was a major factor in the 2001 Microsoft antitrust suit.
But it wasn’t well loved. Internet Explorer was criticized as slow, glitchy and unsecure. Its reign has since eroded to about 30 percent market share thanks to competition from Firefox (a re-imagined Netscape Navigator), Google Chrome and mobile devices.
Gavin Stern is a national digital producer for the Scripps National Desk.
