Microsoft looks to recapture market share with Internet Explorer 12

Microsoft may be planning to release a new version of its web browser with Windows 9, after confirming the company is currently working on Internet Explorer (IE) 12.

Internet Explorer's share of the market has fallen dramatically since the browser's heyday in the mid 00s, having been overtaken by Google Chrome, and Microsoft will reportedly use the new IE to tempt old users back.

A decade ago, IE held around 89 per cent of the web browser market, but this has since fallen to around 52 per cent.

During a question and answer session held on Reddit, the damaged reputation of Internet Explorer was highlighted by various users, and a Microsoft developer responded by saying: "A lot of things are changing. We announce the end of support for too old version[s] of IE or for out of date ActiveX control.

"This is a first step to reduce fragmentation which is really a pain for web developers.

"And we are changing ourselves also... I'm going to a lot of web events just to gather feedback and really try to improve IE!"

The company is obviously hoping the new version of its much-maligned browser, rumoured to arrive with Windows 9 next year, will go some way towards re-establishing it as a major competitor to Chrome and Firefox.