Internet Explorer. It’s been around so long it’s pretty much ubiquitous with the internet in general. The bright blue little icon that everyone clicks “for the internet” or “to go to Google”. It’s the sort of thing that’s just “been there” for so long people get used to using it, especially among the older crowd who usually don’t make it a point to keep up with the latest tech trends. Well, the time is here and the time is now to understand that it’s time to put IE to bed once and for all. Microsoft did it two years ago with the release of Windows 10 and it’s time for you to follow suit. Why?
1. It’s ancient.
In today’s world, technological advancements age less like fine wine and more like raw meat. IE has been around for over 20 years. Well past it’s expiration date. In fact, the next closest of the “big 3” browsers, Mozilla Firefox, is over half a decade younger and has been through several major revamps since it’s creation.
2. It’s the oddball.
You know that crazy family member who was never quite ‘right’? That’s IE in a nutshell. Back in the early days of the internet, Microsoft decided to get cute and have IE render web pages the way it wanted to thereby attempting to set the standard by which everyone else would have to follow. Unfortunately for them it didn’t work and as a result there are now many different things it does differently than other browsers for no real good reason.
3. It’s a pain for developers.
As a direct result of point #2, IE has become “that browser” that web developers have to make an exception for. This means coding portions of a site or web app twice. Once for IE and once again for every other browser out there. This, in turn, makes developing websites more expensive than it needs to be because extra dev time needs to be spent making everything “IE compatible”.
4. Daddy doesn’t love it anymore.
You can usually tell when it’s time to move on from a product when the maker of that product no longer makes it. This is the case with IE. While Microsoft still does release the occasional patch for IE, they are no longer actively developing it. In fact, the only reason it’s included in Windows 10 is for comparability purposes for corporate websites that were designed for IE. Beyond that, Microsoft is now focusing all of their efforts on Edge, their new replacement for IE that, while still raw and green, at least conforms to actual web standards instead of treating them like a spoiled child would treat parental authority.
5. There are far better options out there.
Pick a browser, any browser, and in five minutes you’ll see why it’s a much better option than IE in terms of speed, capability, even extra feature support for things like add-ons. It’s a long running joke that IE is only there so you can download a ‘real’ browser, and that’s never been more true than it is today.
So where do you start?
That part’s easy. You can pick and download pretty much any browser that tickles your fancy. Heck, you may already have one installed and not even know it. If you’d like to know more about the differences between browsers, I’d suggest watching this educational video which should get you up to speed.
Happy browsing!