Microsoft to retire Internet Explorer: 'the browser you loved to hate'
Microsoft has revealed plans to axe its notorious web browser Internet Explorer, in a move that has got the tech world talking.
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Although the browser was once used by close to 1bn people, its success has dissipated with the rise of smartphones and tablets.
The software giant has moved on from Internet Explorer with a new browser currently going by the codename Project Spartan, which it hopes will have the ability to compete with the cross-platform browsers dominating the market.
Chairman of digital advertising firm Akqa Tom Bedecarre told the Financial Times that Internet Explorer had been left in the dirt by competitors like Google Chrome and Firefox.
He said: “In the war of the future, which is mobile, they’re losing. Nobody’s going to download Internet Explorer as their mobile browser.”
Microsoft itself even mocked the software, dubbing it “the browser you loved to hate” in one of its campaigns.
Despite the eventual axing of the browser, Microsoft added that the next Windows update will include a final version of Internet Explorer to make the transition simpler for businesses used to it when Spartan arrives.