Thursday, May 20th 2021

Microsoft to Kill Internet Explorer 11 Once and for All in 2022

Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser has been one of the biggest browsers in the world by market share. However, that was some years ago and the browser technology keeps developing to a point where a 3-month non-updated browser is slow and insecure. The latest version of Internet Explorer is version 11, which you can find still running on your Windows PC. You might wonder why is it still present when Microsoft announced its Chromium-based Edge browser some time ago. Well, many applications have built-int code that needs Internet Explorer to work. If there is no IE browser, the application would display errors and likely not run well.

However, Microsoft today announced that the company will be moving on from IE 11 and that it is finally killing it by June 15th, 2022. The IE browser represents a code that is probably hard to maintain and a potential security hole. That is why the company is deciding to end it in 2022. If you are wondering how the company plans to migrate a plethora of apps from needing IE, Microsoft is preparing Internet Explorer compatibility mode on its Edge browser. That way it ensures that all of the existing applications would run under the Edge browser and that old and insecure piece of code is removed from Windows.
Sources: Microsoft Blog, Microsoft IE 11 FAQ, via Tom's Hardware
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41 Comments on Microsoft to Kill Internet Explorer 11 Once and for All in 2022

#2
Kenjiro
Yeah, and it will move more companies to VMs with old browser for administering old devices i.e. Cisco PIX. Maybe it will be good move, because VM could be snapshotted with good known config, but it will be more hassle than now.
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#3
Melvis
Explorer died 20yrs ago lol
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#4
DeathtoGnomes
dont worry it will be in the m$ store for the next 10 years still.
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#5
Chrispy_
Yay!

But also, why is this taking so damn long? Like Flash which was announced as being killed off and then took almost five harmful years to die.

IE's successor, Edge, has already been replaced and itself, died off. Why has Microsoft even been shipping IE at all in the last 3 years? It will persist as long as they keep feeding the idiots that are too lazy to move off it. Let's face it, if you have business software from the last decade that was explicitly coded for IE, you deserve to have the rug pulled out from under you at this point; It's a cruel kindness.
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#6
Chomiq
Chrispy_Yay!

But also, why is this taking so damn long? Like Flash which was announced as being killed off and then took almost five harmful years to die.

IE's successor, Edge, has already been replaced and itself, died off. Why has Microsoft even been shipping IE at all in the last 3 years? It will persist as long as they keep feeding the idiots that are too lazy to move off it. Let's face it, if you have business software from the last decade that was explicitly coded for IE, you deserve to have the rug pulled out from under you at this point; It's a cruel kindness.
Because some of the core Windows functionalities are probably still tied to IE.
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#9
Chrispy_
ChomiqBecause some of the core Windows functionalities are probably still tied to IE.
Youre thinking of the old-style, pre-Chromium Edge.
IE is 100% superflous shit at this point. If you still have it lingering in your W10 install like an unflushable turd, get rid of it with @ExcuseMeWtf's link. IE has been the holy trifecta of a security vulnerability, useless, and bloatware going back as far as Windows 8's launch.
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#10
Frick
Fishfaced Nincompoop
ChomiqBecause some of the core Windows functionalities are probably still tied to IE.
Chrispy_Youre thinking of the old-style, pre-Chromium Edge.
IE is 100% superflous shit at this point. If you still have it lingering in your W10 install like an unflushable turd, get rid of it with @ExcuseMeWtf's link. IE has been the holy trifecta of a security vulnerability, useless, and bloatware going back as far as Windows 8's launch.
Some corporate and other internal tools depends on it. There's loads of legacy stuff floating around out there, some of which are mission critical for the companies that use them. Which is why we're getting an IE compatibility mode in Edge.
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#11
Chrispy_
FrickSome corporate and other internal tools depends on it. There's loads of legacy stuff floating around out there, some of which are mission critical for the companies that use them. Which is why we're getting an IE compatibility mode in Edge.
Yeah, I know. That's why I said this:
[IE] will persist as long as they keep feeding the idiots that are too lazy to move off it. Let's face it, if you have business software from the last decade that was explicitly coded for IE, you deserve to have the rug pulled out from under you at this point; It's a cruel kindness.
There is no excuse to have mission-critical business software based on something so wholly inappropriate at this point in time. People have had almost 10 years of very clear warning at this point.
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#12
Frick
Fishfaced Nincompoop
Chrispy_Yeah, I know. That's why I said this:

There is no excuse to have mission-critical business software based on something so wholly inappropriate at this point in time. People have had almost 10 years of very clear warning at this point.
On the whole I agree, but it's not always so clear cut. But yeah.
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#13
Ubersonic
Hopefully there will be an option to block this, otherwise enterprises who require IE for compatibility will be unable to move past Windows 10 20H2 :(
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#14
TheDeeGee
I used IE since the 56K dial-up days until 2016.

When i moved to Windows 10 i started using Chrome, which i used until 2019, since then i use Edge Chromium.
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#15
Lycanwolfen
This is going to be a Challege for MS. Yes a lot of us home users use chrome or other things like edge which is chrome just gutted. The problem is Java based apps still need IE for old code to run. Many databases and intranet systems still use IE. Many Camera systems sold by costco use some form of ocx plugins for IE. Marriott hotels still use IE for its java based booking systems. So I am happy that they are finally going to drop it for good. But I see many nights up late trying to get many old things to work in edge. I personally don't like edge because microsoft as usual hides stuff inside it. Edge changes how windows updates work and forces them on and even deletes stuff of computers without your constent.

Also on a side note all the security problems we have today is because of MS and there stupidness. When they decided to intergrate IE into the OS was there major security downfall for the last 21 years. The old days of MS like windows 95a and 95b IE was a seperate component of the OS. When 95c came out then the massive security problems came with it. If MS had kept the Internet component seperate from the core OS then we might have not had all the malware, ransonware, and other security flaws we have today. Unix and Macs are like this seperated components not part of the core OS. MS never learns.
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#16
Chrispy_
LycanwolfenI see many nights up late trying to get many old things to work in edge.
And here lies the cause of all these problems in the first place. Coding for a specific browser is the same dumb short-sighted laziness that got them there in the first place.

The solution isn't to code for Edge (classic or Chromium) but to code in HTML5 that is a global, cross-platform standard that will be supported by ALL browsers going forward for the forseeable future, and likely be fully backward-compatible if and when HTML6 suceeds it.
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#17
lexluthermiester
AleksandarKHowever, Microsoft today announced that the company will be moving on from IE 11 and that it is finally killing it by June 15th, 2022
Yeah, that only took 26 years and counting? Good riddance..
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#18
neatfeatguy
One shipping company I have to log into their system a couple times a year, they tell me that only IE works on allowing clickable links to be used to download/upload paperwork and to submit it to them in their system. I was specifically told a couple weeks back that Edge/Chrome/Firefox and whatever else you may want to use will not work. Only using IE will work.

If I'm not using IE I was told I have to print out shipping paperwork, hand write out all info needed and then to try and fax it - yes, that was an emphasis on "try" because I'm told they have a lot of issues with incoming faxes not actually coming through.


I wonder if Edge's built in IE compatibility will allow proper functionality for them....?
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#19
Easo
MelvisExplorer died 20yrs ago lol
Oh the naivety :)
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#20
Ubersonic
lexluthermiesterYeah, that only took 26 years and counting? Good riddance..
IE 11 is just over 7 years old, and will proberbly be around for many years more as its slmost certain it's only going to be W10 Home/Pro that drops it not W10 Enterprise.
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#21
lexluthermiester
UbersonicIE 11 is just over 7 years old, and will proberbly be around for many years more as its slmost certain it's only going to be W10 Home/Pro that drops it not W10 Enterprise.
Unless it's deliberately removed anyway. I actively remove IE from every Windows install I do. That's been my standard practice for nearly 20 years.
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#22
XiGMAKiD
Good riddance, Microsoft need to push forward a bit better and faster.
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#23
Camm
FrickSome corporate and other internal tools depends on it. There's loads of legacy stuff floating around out there, some of which are mission critical for the companies that use them. Which is why we're getting an IE compatibility mode in Edge.
Afaic, that is a critical failure by the company not to continue to invest in its technology platforms.
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#24
Ubersonic
CammAfaic, that is a critical failure by the company not to continue to invest in its technology platforms.
You have to understand that things move much slower in the enterprise sector than in the home user/small business market, hence why many if not most enterprises are still transitioning from W7 to W10 (and why Microsoft still offer paid support for W7 enterprise). And in the Enterprise sector Internet Explorer is still the dominant browser, it's the one browser based applications are designed to work with first and foremost with thousands of browser based applications not running properly (or in many cases at all) in Edge/Chrome/Firefox.

To put this in perspective, the main reason W8 Enterprise failed wasn't anything to do with ugly GUIs/etc like with the Home/Pro editions, it was because you couldn't install Internet Explorer 9.0 on it, you were limited to IE10 or above and at that point in time Internet Explorer 9.0 was still the defacto standard browser for enterprises. The biggest driving force behind W10's success in enterprise has been browser based apps releasing IE11 compatible versions allowing organisations to move to W10.
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#25
TheUn4seen
The company I'm doing a thing for right now, which is one of the largest Japanese corporations, has a vast Intranet where their employees have to do basically everything, from checking cafeteria menus to requesting reimbursement for delegations or sick leaves, not to mention most of the company-wide accounting which is freakishly complex and convoluted is done through it. The whole Intranet only works in IE. Not even in Edge with compatibility. There are layers upon layers of legacy stuff which was probably horrible when it was new and now it's just pure undocumented garbage.
I might be cynical, but I can't shake the feeling Microsoft is doing the "pay us A LOT of money for extended support or your stuff will stop working" again. For consumers it's "meh", but I'm sure there are corporate admins who swear a lot more than usual right now.
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