RIP Internet Explorer, the first (and worst) internet browser for many

Internet Explorer was a failure for most of its existence. It feels like we didn't do well with internet explorer.

It was 26 years ago that Internet Explorer first appeared on our little Windows 95 PCs. Microsoft wants you to use Edge instead of the browser if you try to download it.

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The death of the browser isn't a big deal for a lot of internet users. Last year, Microsoft began to kill off its internet portal. By its death, IE usage had fallen to less than 1 percent of the total browser market share, according to the website Statcounter. It was dead before Microsoft did.

Microsoft's digital gravestone for Internet Explorer. Credit: Microsoft

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I am not going to dance on internet explorer's grave. IE was a terrible browser for a long time. Depending on the year and what you were doing with it, some sites wouldn't even display correctly, or you'd get dozens of pop-ups, or even open up your Windows PC to a barrage of viruses. PC users of a certain age may remember loading up IE after a parent or grandparent used it to find illegitimate browser programs.

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IE was pre-installed on every Windows PC from 1995 onwards, making it the first door to the internet for many people. When I was a kid, I used the AOL browser, but once my family moved on from dial-up and the internet became accessible, I switched to IE. I used to watch early meme content on eBaum's World before I realized that a lot of it was stolen without credit.

Like a lot of like-minded individuals I knew at the time, we all realized IE sucked and moved on to other browsers. The internet users didn't owe anything. The company's parent company eventually released a better browser.

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Good memories aren't an adequate substitute for good performance and security, but they are indicative of Internet Explorer's cultural importance for people who grew up alongside the internet.

You beautiful, broken browser, rest in peace.