After 27 years in service, Internet Explorer is being shut down. As of Wednesday, Microsoft will no longer support the browser, and as such, former users are giving it the send-off it deserves: endless memes.
Now, if you didn’t realize it still existed, no one could blame you. As many wrote in their send-off messages, in its later years, Internet Explorer was mostly used for downloading other internet browsers. Even Microsoft directed its users to “a faster, more secure” option last year, when it first announced that Explorer would be put out to pasture.
In fact, most of the memes bidding farewell to it are based in the significant lag users experienced. In one fan-favorite meme, the Grim Reaper arrives to escort Explorer off into the afterlife, only to realize “Internet Explorer is not responding.”
Others resurfaced an old joke in which Internet Explorer is the slowest to respond in a call-and-response chant among browsers.
That said, others thanked the browser for its service — of teaching them patience. “RIP to Internet Explorer… Thank you for teaching me how to manage anger,” one person wrote alongside a screenshot of the flood of error messages the browser would send in some cases.
For many, it was a surprisingly bittersweet moment. You can check out more memes bidding farewell to Internet Explorer below.
