Microsoft has made an announcement about the future of Internet Explorer. We’re taking a look back at the Internet Explorer logo design’s humble beginnings.
We got the official announcement at the Microsoft Convergence conference in Atlanta last week. Chris Capossela, Microsoft’s head of marketing, said that they would be retiring Internet Explorer. Microsoft’s official browser will eventually be replaced with what is for now called Project Spartan. This new browser will launch with Windows 10.
Between Project Spartan and Windows Phone’s Cortana, Halo fans may be noticing a pattern. As a Halo fan myself, I predict the names Forerunner or Guardian will be used next. Time will tell.
Internet Explorer has suffered under the attitude that “it’s the browser you use to download the real browser you want.” Many early years of bugs, freezes, and glitches left a bad taste in the internet community’s mouths. After many patches, updated, and fixes, Microsoft has conceded that it’s time to start over.
You can see the plummeting usage of Internet Explorer in the past five years.
THE INTERNET EXPLORER LOGO
With it’s expected end looming, let’s take a look at the Internet Explorer logo. I won’t even comment on the first version. We don’t see the trademark “e + swoosh” until version 3.0. From version 5.0 and on we get subtle shape variant of the “e+shoosh” and major effect changes. We see the Internet Explorer logo effects go from one color, to an inner glow, to glossy on steroids, to subtle gradients, and finally back to a one color. A testament that trends can be cyclical.
Because it can be described as an initial and a swoosh, the Internet Explorer logo shares traits of many generic logos. It may have been innovative in the mid 90’s, but many copycats have crowded the market. As a fan of negative space in logo design, I do like the cut away at the top of the “e” behind the swoosh. It doesn’t dominate the logo design, but is noticeable and clean.
Project Spartan will not be based on Internet Explorer. In an attempt to distance themselves and relaunch their internet browser, Microsoft will be starting from scratch. The Internet Explorer logo and it’s browser are not gone for good.
“We recognize some enterprises have legacy web sites that use older technologies designed only for Internet Explorer, such as custom ActiveX controls and Browser Helper Objects. For these users, Internet Explorer will also be available on Windows 10. Internet Explorer will use the same dual rendering engines as Spartan, ensuring web developers can consistently target the latest web standards.” –IEBlog, January 2015
Thank you Internet Explorer, for being the first board many of us used to surf the net. The Internet Explorer logo has been mainly consistent throughout its 20 year run. Hopefully lessons learned from it can be applied to make Project Spartan a browser with a different legacy.
How do you feel about this news? Which browser do you use most?
Web Usage Statistics & Chart courtesy of StatCounter.
IE 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 6.0, Windows 8 Icon courtesy of LogoPedia.
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