Internet explorer dies on billions of devices for eternity today
The end of an era
It wasn’t that long ago that Internet Explorer was the mainstay of our computing experience, loading it up to look up PlayStation cheat codes or get kicked out of Habbo Hotel.
But like many relics of our childhood, after nearly three decades, the web browser has grown outdated and obsolete - meaning it’s now getting the boot by Microsoft.
Launched in 1995 for Windows devices, Internet Explorer has had a total of 11 versions, with the most recent released in 2013.
However, in January 2015, Microsoft announced that it would be replaced by its successor Microsoft Edge as the default browser in Windows 10.
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The following year, new feature development was also discontinued for the browser, as Microsoft turned its attention to Edge.
Microsoft formally retired Internet Explorer in June last year, but an update today (Tuesday, 14 February) means users will no longer be able to access the browser on Windows 10.
The tech giant warned in May 2021: “The retired, out-of-support Internet Explorer 11 desktop application is scheduled to be permanently disabled through a Microsoft Edge update on certain versions of Windows 10 on February 14, 2023.”
The Valentine’s Day software update (I know, romantic) has permanently disabled the browser, in turn bringing all PCs into the Edge way of life.
Traditionalists will be happy to know that Internet Explorer’s desktop icons will remain as they are - for now, at least, with Betanews saying this is likely a way to ease people into things.
Announcing the big change a couple of years ago, Microsoft said Microsoft Edge with IE mode would ‘be ‘officially replacing the Internet Explorer 11 desktop application on Windows 10'.
“As a result, the Internet Explorer 11 desktop application will go out of support and be retired on June 15, 2022 for certain versions of Windows 10,” a post on the company’s blog said.
Explaining when the desktop app would be ‘permanently’ disabled, it continued: “The out-of-support Internet Explorer 11 (IE11) desktop application is scheduled to be permanently disabled on certain versions of Windows 10 on February 14, 2023, through a Microsoft Edge update, not a Windows update as previously communicated.
“All remaining devices that have not already been redirected from IE11 to Microsoft Edge are scheduled to be redirected on February 14, 2023.
“The Microsoft Edge update will be delivered to all devices - both commercial and consumer - at the same time, and users will be unable to reverse the change. Additionally, redirection from IE11 to Microsoft Edge will be included as part of all future Microsoft Edge updates.”
Microsoft advised any organisations that still had ‘dependencies on IE11’ should take steps before 14 February to complete the transition, or risk ‘business disruption at scale when users lose access to IE11 dependent applications’.
The blog post added: “The change to use Microsoft Edge update to disable IE is intended to provide a better user experience and help organizations transition their last remaining IE11 users to Microsoft Edge."
Topics: Technology, Microsoft
Jess Hardiman