15 years of Internet Explorer

Last month, Internet Explorer turned 15. Here's a timeline of IE releases based on excerpts from seattlepi's article on the history of IE -

IE1 was born when Microsoft got a license from Spyglass Inc. for the source code of Mosaic -- the first graphical Web browser technology. Microsoft launched IE1 in August 1995 as part of the Windows 95 Plus! pack, a $49 add-on for the landmark operating system.

IE2 came in November 1995, and by April 1996 it also was available for Windows NT, Windows 3.1 and Macintosh. Users could buy it as part of the Internet Starter Kit for Windows, which cost $20.


It wasn't until Internet Explorer 3.0, in August 1996, that Microsoft introduced the "blue E" logo we all know now.

IE4 was the Big Mama. Released in September 1997, Microsoft soon bundled it with Windows 98 -- a practice that took IE's market share from less than 20 percent in late 1997 to about 60 percent by 1999.

IE4 introduced Microsoft's Trident layout engine, which is still in use today in Internet Explorer.

Microsoft continued to eat away at Netscape's usage with Internet Explorer 5.0, which was officially released in March 1999 and was another major player in United States v. Microsoft.

IE6 shipped with Windows XP in 2001.

Microsoft itself has since likened the 9-year-old browser to old, spoiled milk, urging users to upgrade to the current version, Internet Explorer 8.

Internet Explorer 7, though it represented a big leap for Microsoft's browser, wasn't as widely used as IE6. Launched in October 2006, it included tabbed browsing, support for RSS and protection against phishing -- features popularized by rival Mozilla's Firefox.

By the time Microsoft released Internet Explorer 8 in March 2009, Chrome was on its second version and had a market share of about 2 percent.

The beta of Internet Explorer 9 is expected on September 15, 2010.

Related:
A Brief History of the Web
The History of Microsoft