Internet Explorer

Internet Explorer (IE) is the most popular web browser worldwide, initially launched by Microsoft Corporation in 1995 as part of Microsoft Windows Operating System. Updates have been subsequently released, usually on an annual basis. The most current version of IE is Internet Explorer 8. Currently, most analysis of the usage share of web browsers indicate that Internet Explorer is used by about 65% of the traffic on the World Wide Web. Use of Internet Explorer has been declining sharply since 2002, when Microsoft Internet Explorer was used by 95% of website visitors.

Internet Explorer has been released for Windows, Windows NT, Windows CE, and Windows Mobile. Internet Explorer has also been released for non-windows operating systems, including Internet Explorer for Mac and Internet Explorer for UNIX (Solaris and HP-UX).

Internet Explorer is one of 5 major web browsers used throughout the world. Web browsers are a type of software installed on a computer that enables Internet users to view and navigate the Internet. Other common web browsers include Mozilla Firefox (FF, Fx, or FX, the second most popular web browser, which currently holds 20% - 30% of the web browser market share), Google Chrome (which holds less than 2% of the web browser market share), Apple Safari (holding about 8% of the web browser market share, including a significant amount of the iPhone market), and Opera (holding 1% or less of the web browser market share).

Internet Explorer is often called Microsoft Internet Explorer, or simply IE or MSIE.