Internet Explorer

For me, it all started with Internet Explorer - the Button for the Internet. Today, the 15th June, 2022 marks the end of an era – Internet Explorer is set for discontinuation.

In 2000, I had the chance of building a marketing website for a bank (I think it was HDFC or another financial institute). The caveat was it has to work flawlessly in Netscape Communicator. This was the time when Internet Explorer had become the de facto browser and it just works. I took my time and flexed my HTML skill to make it work across IE and Netscape. I had that pride of accomplishment when the client was happy and satisfied with the result. Very soon Internet Explorer 6 was released and it changed the browser landscape altogether.

To this day, many government departments continue to rely on fortified and modified version of Internet Explorer 6. If I’m not mistaken, the whole of India’s Passport Processing interface is still powered by Internet Explorer and erstwhile Adobe Flex.

I continued the love-hate relationship with Internet Explorer until Google Chrome came along. Except for visual testing, I have not seen or used Internet Explorer in over a decade. However, the nostalgic feeling remained and it will be loved for what it was.

Benjamin Slivka has a good article on the history of Internet Explorer. He created Internet Explorer that was bundled with Microsoft Windows 95.

Goodbye, Dear old friend. You will be missed.