Just look at IE, it went from being a last place browser to being a second class browser (first class being Firefox and Chrome). IE 10 pioneered CSS grids, the basis for a mature CSS flexbox spec (thank you MS!!!!), CSS regions (although it is only iFrames =/), setImmediate, pointer events. The competition and collaborations between the browsers (and Adobe) today has set an era for stability and phenomenal progress.
Just thinking about the next IE version gets me tingling: partial ES6, Media capture, HTTP2, Web Audio API, etc. I could have never imagined that the IE team would become so sharp! Now if they can implement some CSS stuff as well (masking, shapes, composting, blending and filters PRETTY PLEASE) and make the browser more deferential to the content (shrink title bars and remove the border around the window por favor), then I will fall in love as I have with Safari.