Fare Thee Well Internet Explorer

We all knew this day would come.

Late last year the rumors began about a new web browser coming from Microsoft that would be a big part of Windows 10.  When Microsoft held their January event focused on the consumer features of Windows 10 this new web browser, Project Spartan, made its formal debut.

As Paul wrote back in January both browsers will be around when Windows 10 releases but Internet Explorer will be focused for business and legacy applications compatibility while Project Spartan will be for consumers. 

Project Spartan is not the final name of Microsoft’s new browser but based on a report from The Verge’s Tom Warren earlier today that name will not be Internet Explorer.

This news came out of Microsoft’s Convergence 2015 event in Atlanta, GA yesterday while Microsoft’s marketing head Chris Capossela was speaking to the attendees. "We’re now researching what the new brand, or the new name, for our browser should be in Windows 10”

I just hope they come up with a great name for it, in fact as Rod wrote earlier this year, Project Spartan would be perfect and continue the Halo related naming trend started with Cortana.

So as we prepare to say farewell to the brand name Internet Explorer let’s take a look back at the history making browsers release timeline.

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Internet Explorer 1.0

Released in August 1995 as part of Windows Plus! Program for Windows 95 and as an OEM release for Windows 95.

Internet Explorer 1.5

Released about six months after version 1.0 for Windows NT

Internet Explorer 2.0

Released in November 1995 for Windows 95 and Windows NT

Internet Explorer 3.0

Released in August 1996 and was bundled into Windows 95.  This version introduced Internet Mail and News 1.0 and the Windows Address Book.

Internet Explorer 4.0

Released in September 1997 and shipped with Windows 95 OEM updates and the beta/final release of Windows 98. This was the first release that reached deeper into the OS itself such as introducing Active Desktop which allowed web content to be displayed directly on the desktop.

Internet Explorer 5.0

Released in March 1999 and was fully built into Windows 98 Second Edition when it came out later that year. This was the last version of IE that was compatible with Windows 3.1x or Windows NT 3.x.

Internet Explorer 5.5

Released in July 2000 for Windows Millennium (aka Windows Me).

Internet Explorer 6.0

Released in August 2001 with the release of Windows XP in the same month. This update focused on privacy and security features. This was also the last standalone version of Internet Explorer and future updates would be integrated into the OS itself.

Internet Explorer 7.0

Released in October 2006 making it the first major update to Internet explorer in over 5 years. It was included in Windows Vista and was available to Windows XP systems if they had Service Pack 2 installed.

Internet Explorer 8.0

Released in March 2009 after a one year beta/public preview program. This is the last version to support Windows XP.

Internet Explorer 9.0

Released in March 2011 and was the first version of IE to drop support for Windows XP.

Internet Explorer 10.0

Released in October 2012 at the same time Windows 8 reached general availability. A Windows 7 version was released in February 2013.

Internet Explorer 11.0

Released in October 2013 when Windows 8.1 was made available for Windows 8.

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But, wait...there's probably more so be sure to follow me on Twitter and Google+.