Internet Explorer

The Windows browser, winner of the first browser war with about 95% share in 2002–2003.

Facts

Developer

Microsoft

Website

—

Engines

Spyglass (IE 1–3)Trident

Derived from

Spyglass Mosaic: IE 1–2 nearly identical, IE 3 still largely based on it, IE 4 almost fully rewritten (Trident)

Successor

Microsoft Edge (Legacy)

Platforms

WindowsUnixConsoles

Details

Xbox 360, then Xbox One (Internet Explorer for Xbox, before Edge); Solaris (SPARC), HP-UX (PA-RISC): IE 4 (Solaris preview of Nov. 5, 1997), then IE 5 up to SP1 in 2001, ported via MainWin. Mac: see “Internet Explorer for Mac” (separate code and Tasman engine); mobile: see “Pocket Internet Explorer”

Popularity

93/100

Lineage

Derived browsers (36)

Microsoft Edge (Legacy), Tencent Traveler (TT), AOL / CompuServe Browser, Internet Explorer for Mac, Pocket Internet Explorer, NeoPlanet, MSN Explorer, GreenBrowser, Crazy Browser, AOL Explorer, NetCaptor, Acoo Browser, iRider, MediaBrowser, WebbIE, Enigma Browser, Smart Explorer, Browzar, PhaseOut, FineBrowser, SunDance, Browse3D, MenuBox, Heatseek, UltraBrowser, SphereXPlorer, Smart Bro, Abolimba Multibrowser, Public Web Browser, Cayman Browser, Arlington Kiosk Browser, Junior, Runecats Explorer, NetDino, Web Visions Black Label, Nexus Browser (makdosx)

Key versions

1. Aug. 24, 1995
   1.0SpyglassFirst version, derived from Spyglass Mosaic, shipped with Plus! for Windows 95.[1]
2. Sept. 1995
   1.5Adds basic HTML table support.[1]
3. Nov. 22, 1995
   2.0Adds JavaScript, SSL, cookies, frames and VRML.[1]
4. Aug. 13, 1996
   3.0First major browser with partial CSS support; adds ActiveX and Java applets.[1]
5. Sept. 22, 1997
   4.0TridentNew Trident engine and deep integration with Windows (Active Desktop).[1]
6. Feb. 24, 1998
   4.0 (UNIX)UNIX version released for Solaris and HP-UX.[2]
7. Mar. 18, 1999
   5.0Introduces XMLHttpRequest, XML/XSLT support and MHTML saving.[1]
8. June 19, 2000
   5.5More CSS properties, print preview and compatibility mode.[1]
9. Aug. 24, 2001
   6.0Shipped with Windows XP; partial CSS1 and DOM1 support, P3P.[1]
10. Oct. 30, 2001
    5.0 SP1 (UNIX)Last version for UNIX (Solaris, HP-UX), dropped in 2002.[2]
11. Oct. 18, 2006
    7.0Adds tabbed browsing, an anti-phishing filter and internationalized domain names.[1]
12. Mar. 19, 2009
    8.0First IE to pass Acid2; InPrivate browsing and tab isolation.[1]
13. Mar. 14, 2011
    9.0New Chakra JavaScript engine, GPU-accelerated rendering, HTML5 video and audio.[1]
14. Sept. 4, 2012
    10.0CSS3 layouts, Web Workers, IndexedDB and WebSockets.[1]
15. Oct. 17, 2013
    11.0Last major version: WebGL, SPDY and new developer tools.[1]
16. Apr. 29, 2015
    EdgeMicrosoft announces that Edge will replace IE as the default browser in Windows 10.[3]
17. June 15, 2022
    End of supportEnd of support for IE 11 on Windows 10 Semi-Annual Channel editions.[3]

Version sources: [1] Internet Explorer version history (Wikipedia en), [2] Internet Explorer for UNIX (Wikipedia en), [3] Internet Explorer (Wikipedia en)

Sources

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Explorer
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spyglass,_Inc.
3. https://www.vg247.com/xbox-one-internet-explorer-team-increased-support-for-modern-web-standards-by-over-200-from-xbox-360
4. https://www.webbrowserdirectory.com/browsers/xbox-360-browser/
5. https://www.webbrowserdirectory.com/browsers/xbox-one-browser/
6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Explorer_for_UNIX