Internet Explorer

Internet Explorer (formerly Microsoft Internet Explorer and Windows Internet Explorer, commonly abbreviated IE or MSIE) is a series of graphical web browsers developed by Microsoft and included in the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems, starting in 1995. First released as part of the add-on package Plus! for Windows 95 that year, versions became available as free downloads, or in service packs, and including in the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) service releases of Windows 95 onward. New feature development for the browser was discontinued in 2016 in favor of the new Microsoft Edge browser.

Internet Explorer will be discontinued on June 15, 2022, after which, the alternative will be Microsoft Edge with IE mode for legacy sites.

Internet Explorer 1
The first version of Internet Explorer was derived from the Mosaic Browser and released as Internet Explorer 1.0 in August 1995. Version 1.5 was released several months later for Windows NT, with support for basic table rendering.

Internet Explorer 2
The second version was released on November 22, 1995 for Windows NT and Windows 95 and on April 23, 1996 for the Macintosh and Windows 3.1. It introduced the Secure Socket Layer (SSL) protocol, HTTP cookies, JavaScript, HTML 3 with support for frames, and RSA support.

Internet Explorer 3
Released on August 13, 1996 for Windows and on January 8, 1997 for Mac OS, IE3 was the first commercial browser with CSS support, and it introduced support for ActiveX controls, Java applets, and inline multimedia. It was the first version of Internet Explorer to use the blue 'e' logo.

Internet Explorer 4
The fourth version of Internet Explorer was released for Windows, Mac OS, and Unix. It introduced the Trident (MSHTML) layout engine, which was designed as a software component to allow software developers to easily add web browsing functionality to their own applications. It also came with Active Desktop, Windows Desktop Update, Frontpage Express, and Microsoft Chat 2.0. Standards supported include Dynamic HTML, inline PNG, favicons, a parental rating system, and the ability to "subscribe" to a website in favorites.

Internet Explorer 5
Internet Explorer 5 was released in March 1999, and is the last version of the browser to be supported on Windows 3.1x, Windows NT 3.x, and Windows 95. The distribution methods and Windows integration were involved in the United States v. Microsoft Corp. case. It was included with Windows 98 SE and Windows Me. Among some of the new or improved features were an AutoComplete feature and integration with Hotmail.

Internet Explorer 6
Internet Explorer 6 was released on August 27, 2001 and was the default browser shipped with Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. It was the most widely used browser during its tenure; at its peak in 2002 and 2003, IE6 attained a total market share of nearly 90%.