1. Internet Explorer (IE) is a web browser developed by Microsoft and included in the Microsoft Windows operating system. It was first released in 1995 and became the dominant browser for several years. 2. In the late 2000s, IE lost market share to Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox. As of 2022, IE's global usage share is less than 10%. 3. IE allows users to view web pages, send and receive email, access social media sites, conduct online shopping, and transfer files using basic functions like a back button, search bar, and home page. It supports technologies like HTML, Java, and FTP.