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Internet Explorer Turns 15

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the and-the-internet-has-never-been-the-same dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Software giant Microsoft's Internet Explorer turned 15 years old on Monday. The company recently said it would launch the Internet Explorer 9 public beta version on September 15, 2010. The software giant launched the first version of the browser, Internet Explorer 1, on August 16, 1995. It was a revised version of Spyglass Mosaic, which Microsoft had licensed from Spyglass Inc."

8 of 271 comments (clear)

  1. Re:The Future by aradnik · · Score: 4, Funny

    do you remember what it was like being 15? i bet ie's plotting to get opera in bed or something :)

  2. Spyglass got pwned! by Henriok · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Microsoft licensed Mosaic under the promise of paying Spyglass royalties based on revenue. But then MS released it for free and Spyglass got nothing. This must be one of Microsoft's finest deals.

    --

    - Henrik

    - when the Shadows descend -
    1. Re:Spyglass got pwned! by MojoRilla · · Score: 4, Interesting

      They kissed and made up in the end (at least Spyglass got $8 million), according to this article.

  3. Re:IE turns 15... by bondsbw · · Score: 5, Funny
    History of IE:
    • Cool... we can go to web pages!
    • Eh, I like Netscape better.
    • But wait... we can theme IE!
    • Microsoft sucks! Down with IE!
    • Oooh... so yeah, I hate to say this since I hate Microsoft, but Netscape really sucks... they haven't upgraded it in like 5 years. And it's owned by AOL, the other enemy. Guess I have to go with IE...
    • IE hasn't been upgraded in like 5 years... we need something new.
    • *From heaven* "BEHOLD, FIREFOX!"
    • Microsoft: Oh crap, you mean we have to put out a new version of IE? Do we still have developers around?
    • Apple: Let's take a Safari...
    • Google: Hey, me too!
    • Opera: Ok guys, we'll make it free... we get it.
    • Opera: HELLO!!?!? Anybody there?
    --
    All my liberal friends think I'm a conservative, all my conservative friends think I'm a liberal.
  4. It's hard to believe... by MikeRT · · Score: 4, Insightful

    that there was a time when people actually fled in droves to IE the way they are switching to Firefox and Chrome.

    Anyone who wonders why IE 6 became the de facto standard just needs to find a download of Netscape Communicator.

    1. Re:It's hard to believe... by characterZer0 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The problem with IE6 is not that it was bad but that people wrote ActiveX applications for it and those applications are still needed.

      The problem now is that many organizations have clueless IT departments that do not know how to deploy those old applications via Terminal Services and instead insist that desktop machines stick with IE6.

      --
      Go green: turn off your refrigerator.
    2. Re:It's hard to believe... by colmore · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The problem with IE6 is that it doesn't render CSS properly, has ugly javascript quirks, and is STILL FUCKING USED BY 30% OF THE DAMN INTERNET.

      And yes, I am a web developer.

      --
      In Capitalist America, bank robs you!
  5. Re:IE turns 15... by characterZer0 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It does not matter when the first copy of XP was sold, it matters when the last copy was sold. You cannot drop support for something that you sold a few months ago just because it has been on sale for 8 years and there are two newer versions.

    --
    Go green: turn off your refrigerator.