Recently، Microsoft announced it will be completely shutting down، or “killing off” their long-running and used internet browser، Internet Explorer.
Much criticized for it’s slow speed and the tacky and somewhat outdated UI، it is hardly unlikely that anyone will be genuinely missing IE، at all.
The news broke out during Microsoft Convergence conference، this week with marketing chief Chris Capposela making the announcement of their plan to “phase out” IE and replace it with the code-named “Project Spartan”.
Since، Project Spartan is still a code name، the chances of the final and released title being different is quite high، as Microsoft is known for using dropping such “game” names from their applications.
What we know so far، from various reports is that Project Spartan will feature، Windows-based phone’s voice assistant، Cortana along with an easy reading mode. Added to these features are new layouts (hopefully، something good to look at!) as well as annotation tools which works with keyboards and pens.
Though the phasing out of IE is imminent، it will grab hold on to us، emotionally perhaps، and even on reports. But hardly likely it will be missed.
MIT’s Technology Review on the news follows;
“Internet Explorer، first released in the mid-1990s، dominated the browser market at its peak in the early 2000s، but it came to be associated with poor security and compatibility with other browsers and has since languished. Spartan’s success is critical if Microsoft is to remain relevant in the Web browser business — a market in which it used to dominate but now trails Google’s Chrome. According to data from StatCounter، in February، Chrome had 43.2 percent of the global browser market (including desktop، mobile، and other platforms)، while Internet Explorer captured 13.1 percent and Firefox had 11.6 percent.”
Though، it had been in 2nd spot، it was comparatively faring quite badly، and Microsoft’s decision to pull the plug off maybe a sign، that they are seeking to move on، and bring further changes to what they may have lost in recent years.