Microsoft ends Internet Explorer Support!
So long, fairwell, auf wiedersehen, goodbye!
Last week Microsoft finally announced the official retirement date for Internet Explorer (IE) for certain versions of Windows 10*: 15th June 2022. Although the browser won’t actually be removed by Microsoft, it will no longer be supported, meaning that no further updates or security patches will arrive, thus rendering it potentially insecure to use.
Microsoft is urging organisations and individuals who currently use Internet Explorer to transition to Edge before the 15th June 2022 end-of-life date, although most users are likely to already have Edge installed on their Windows 10 machines. Bookmarks, passwords and additional settings can be easily migrated from IE to Edge using Microsoft’s how-to guide, which is available on their website.
According to Microsoft, “not only is Microsoft Edge a faster, more secure and more modern browsing experience than Internet Explorer, but it is also able to address a key concern: compatibility for older, legacy websites and applications. Microsoft Edge has Internet Explorer mode (“IE mode”) built in, so you can access those legacy Internet Explorer-based websites and applications straight from Microsoft Edge.”
Microsoft has been gradually adding new features to its Edge web browser since last year to improve performance and start up times. Because of these additions, Microsoft claims the internet browser is the leader in performance. “Microsoft Edge will be the best performing browser on Windows 10 when Microsoft Edge version 91 is released this week,” claimed the Microsoft Edge team last week.
The end of Internet Explorer has been a long time coming. Microsoft ended support for Internet Explorer 11 for the Microsoft Teams web app last year, and it’s planning to cut it off from accessing Microsoft 365 services later this year. Internet Explorer 11 will no longer be supported for Microsoft’s online services like Office 365, OneDrive, Outlook, and more on August 17th 2021.
*Users of the following Windows operating systems can continue to use IE 11 until the end of support of their operating systems: Windows 8.1; Windows 7 Extended Security Updates (ESU); Windows 10 Server SAC (all versions); Windows 10 IoT Long-Term Servicing Channel (LTSC) (all versions); Windows 10 Server LTSC (all versions); Windows 10 client LTSC (all versions).
For both Windows 8.1 and Windows 7 ESU users, Windows end of support will occur on Jan. 10, 2023. Windows LTSC users will lose OS support on Jan. 9, 2029.
