August 27, 2001
Internet Explorer 6.0 released
MicrosoftThe software giant behind Windows, Office, Azure, and Xbox — founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen. released Internet ExplorerMicrosoft's long-running web browser — bundled with Windows for decades before Edge replaced it. 6.0 on August 27, 2001 — the version that dominated the web for years and became infamous among developers.
What it was for
IEInternet Explorer — Microsoft's browser that dominated the web in the 1990s and 2000s. 6 shipped with Windows XP and became the browser most of the world used — and most sites were built for. Its slow update cycle, security holes, and CSSCascading Style Sheets — the language for layout, color, and typography on web pages. quirks forced an entire industry of hacks, conditional comments, and later campaigns like "IE6 must die."
Companies
- Microsoft
Why it's here
IEInternet Explorer — Microsoft's browser that dominated the web in the 1990s and 2000s. 6's long reign shaped web development pain points and motivated FirefoxMozilla's open-source browser — championed web standards and challenged Internet Explorer's dominance. and ChromeGoogle's web browser — built on Chromium and the most widely used browser worldwide..
Why it mattered
Market dominance plus stagnation made cross-browser compatibility a full-time job for a decade.
What it solved
MicrosoftThe software giant behind Windows, Office, Azure, and Xbox — founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen. bundled a capable-enough browser with XP, giving users immediate web access on new PCs.
Related
- Internet Explorer 4.0 releasedSeptember 1997
- Firefox 1.0 releasedNovember 9, 2004
- Google Chrome beta releasedSeptember 2, 2008