Microsoft has decided to discontinue the consumer version of Internet Explorer.
It announced the plan last year, and Internet Explorer 11 was designated as the final version.
Internet Explorer debuted on Windows desktop computers in 1995 and had captured 95% of the market by 2004.
However, Google Chrome, Apple’s Safari, and Mozilla Firefox have taken the lead.
Users who want to stick with Microsoft are directed to Microsoft Edge, which was released alongside Windows 10 in 2015.
The popularity of Internet Explorer was harmed by the release of faster browsers such as Chrome and Firefox, as users embraced new applications to navigate platforms such as Google Search, Facebook, and YouTube.
The rise of smartphones arguably dealt the fatal blow, with Apple’s pre-installed Safari browser and Google Chrome on Android phones aiding in the shift of internet access and usage to mobile devices.
According to StatCounter, an independent web analytics company, mobile and tablet internet usage surpassed desktop for the first time in October 2016.
And earlier that year, StatCounter saw Google Chrome account for more than 60% of desktop internet usage worldwide, with Internet Explorer and Edge’s combined share of the desktop market narrowly falling behind that of Firefox for the first time.
