14 DAY TRIAL // 16 years after it made its debut to the world wide web as an underdog but with the Windows monopoly behind it, Internet Explorer is up against a number of rivals, and just as the Netscape browser it killed, it’s seeing its market share being eroded. Internet Explorer 1 was launched on August 16, 1995, and 16 years later, Microsoft seems to have regained the hunger necessary to make IE the best browser on the market.
Back in 1995, the software giant had licensed Spyglass Mosaic, a browser which it then used to create Internet Explorer 1, which it needed to go against Netscape.
Offered to users of Windows 95, IE1 was followed by IE1.5 at just a few months after launch. It was the start of a rapid growth period which culminated with Internet Explorer 6 and the death of Netscape, unable to compete with the new free browser available with the Windows operating system.
Fast forward to 2011, and the software giant is building Internet Explorer 10. The second Platform Preview of IE10 is now available for download to early adopters, with Internet Explorer 9 offered to end users.
Undoubtedly, IE9 is the best version of IE that the Redmond company has developed in a long time, and a valid alternative to rivals such as Chrome, Firefox, Safari or Opera.
But the browser landscape is extremely different from what it used to be, as is IE’s dominance. Still the most used browser worldwide, IE has been losing users first to Firefox and subsequently to Chrome.
Mozilla and Google now flood users with major releases of Firefox and Chrome approximately every six weeks, a strategy which Microsoft will not adopt, perhaps recalling the featuritis that was a factor in the death of Netscape.
But at the same time, the IE team too overhauled the IE development process and release cycle, accelerating the pace in order to keep up with rivals.
With IE9 barely landed earlier this year, the focus shifted quickly onto Internet Explorer 10, which is expected in 2012.
IE10 will be the default browser of Windows 8, according to Microsoft, and since the company is applauding Windows 7’s successor as the OS to reimagine Windows, one can only hope that IE10 will be the browser to reimagine Internet Explorer.
And yes, in case you were wondering, I asked my Microsoft contacts what the world can expect at BUILD, IE10-wise, but the company is sharing no details yet.
Internet Explorer 10 (IE10) Platform Preview 2 (PP2) Build 10.0.1008.16421 is available for download here.
Windows Internet Explorer 9 RTW for Windows 7 and Windows 7 SP1 is available for download here.