If Internet Explorer (IE) wasn’t dead before, it certainly is now. Microsoft publishes a new Edge update that will permanently disable the old browser on most versions of Windows 10.
The following changes will go live as the patch rolls out during the week. Visual references to Internet Explorer, such as icons in the Start menu and taskbar, will remain for now. However, if you try to launch IE, the Edge browser will appear in its place alongside a new window notifying you of the changes.
Be aware that Microsoft plans to clean Windows 10 of these references in an upcoming Windows security update scheduled for June 13 Patch Tuesday. If you want to get rid of these references even sooner, you can download the “C” preview, scheduled for May 23. And if you’re worried about losing data, don’t be. In the Tech community post announcing these changes (opens in a new tab)all browsing data will automatically transfer to Edge.
Permanently removing Internet Explorer will undoubtedly have far-reaching ramifications for slow-to-adopt businesses. To help, Microsoft is asking these organizations to open a support ticket (opens in a new tab) and check out the Internet Explorer Adoption Kit for Retirement (opens in a new tab).
living on
All is not lost as the spirit of Internet Explorer will live on. Of course, Microsoft Edge has IE mode so users can visit legacy websites that won’t work on newer browsers; although this feature also has an expiration date. Support for IE mode (specifically, the MSHTML renderer) is scheduled to end in 2029, so there’s still some time to go. The company says it will remind people that the feature ends in 2028 to give users plenty of time to prepare.
Specific versions of Windows 10 will continue to host Internet Explorer. To name a few, you have the Chinese government edition and Windows 10 Enterprise multi-session, which coincidentally just got its end of service date set for May 9.
With that, we think it’s safe to finally say goodbye to internet explorer after nearly two years of doing so – except for very specific versions that continue to get muddled. It’s hard to say exactly how many people will be affected by the sudden shutdown because Microsoft doesn’t release those numbers. Looking recently Stat Counter numbers (opens in a new tab)Internet Explorer represents less than one percent of the total browser market share worldwide.
Yes, that’s still millions of people, but overall the world has moved on. The browser was great when the internet was young, but it wasn’t built to last or be used forever.
Plus, there are plenty of fish in the sea. Be sure to check out TechRadar’s recent update. list of best web browsers for 2023.