Microsoft considered changing the name Internet Explorer to bury its reputation

MICROSOFT'S Internet Explorer engineering team told a Reddit gathering that discussions about a name change have taken place and could happen again.

Internet Explorer is a well known web browser, but it is not without its critics. It is often referred to as Internet Exploder and has been overlooked in favour of rivals including Firefox and Google Chrome.

Presently it accounts for a lion's share of web browser usage, according to Netapp, but some variants are so old and outdated that even Microsoft wants to send them to the recycling bin.

During the Reddit Q&A, the question of a name change was brought up, and the engineers acknowledged that this has been a topic of discussion.

'It's been suggested internally; I remember a particularly long email thread where numerous people were passionately debating it. Plenty of ideas get kicked around about how we can separate ourselves from negative perceptions that no longer reflect our product today,' said engineer Jonathan Sampson in response to a question about the software's reputation.

Sampson was asked a followup question, the obvious one, which is why the firm would stick with such a blighted moniker.

'The discussion I recall seeing was a very recent one (just a few weeks ago),' he responded. 'Who knows what the future holds :)'

Recently Microsoft started trying to wean people off the older versions of its web browser in favour of newer ones. It is likely to face challenges there, as we saw with Windows XP, a legacy Microsoft software habit is hard to break.

The Redmond firm has tried all sorts of ways to encourage use of its newer alternative, including reminding potential ex-users that it is a web browser that they have come to love to hate.

The 'web browser you love to hate' campaign came from the same people as the 'we never get tired of this' Scroogle effort that attempts to paint rival Google in a negatively Dickensian light. µ