Microsoft to phase out Internet Explorer

The end is in sight for long fraught Windows browser, Internet Explorer. Microsoft announced earlier this week it will phase out Internet Explorer beginning with Windows 10. 

READ MORE: Microsoft is putting Internet Explorer out to pasture

Once a market leader with as much as 95 per cent usage share when it peaked in 2002, Microsoft's flagship browser has experienced a steady decline in its user base since Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome hit the scene in 2004 and 2008 respectively. Today, Internet Explorer holds just eight per cent of global Internet traffic. 

Microsoft said it will replace Internet Explorer with a new browser codenamed Project Spartan, though Explorer would live on in some capacities, mainly for enterprise compatibility. 

READ MORE: Microsoft is killing off the Internet Explorer brand

InfoStream's "all-time" statistics of traffic sources reveal Internet Explorer holding 27 per cent usage, though that number drops to 12 per cent for the most recent monthly time period.

InfoStream traffic source
statistics for Feb-March 2015

InfoStream traffic source
statistics for All Time