TECH NEWS – After Netscape Navigator, another classic browser is heading into the cemetery, and it was about time it happened, let’s be honest.

Microsoft introduced the successor to Internet Explorer, Edge, in 2015, which since has become part of the Chrome family (as, aside from Google Chrome, it too uses Chromium, together with Opera). Thus, it was quite a surprise to see the Redmond-based company continue to support the outdated browser, which is now confirmed to become a relic of the past shortly.

„The Internet Explorer 11 desktop application will be retired and go out of support on June 15, 2022, for certain versions of Windows 10,” Microsoft announced in a blog post. Here are the reasons why Microsoft decided to pull the trigger on the old IE: Edge’s compatibility with its predecessor’s features have improved (ActiveX is an example), Edge provides far better security, and modern websites display much better on the new Microsoft browser. These seem to be decent reasons why (together with Adobe Flash Player) Internet Explorer falls into its grave.

Internet Explorer 11 gets monthly security updates, but that’s far less often than the period Edge needs between two updates. But that’s not all: this shutdown starts a bit earlier: on August 17, Microsoft 365 „and other apps” will end support for IE11. However, Edge will continue to support „legacy Internet Explorer-based websites and apps” through 2029.

According to data by NetMarketshare, Internet Explorer made up about 5% of all web traffic last autumn. Other sites claim this share is less than 1%. It makes sense, though: Internet Explorer was released in 2013, and since then, it didn’t get many updates.

Windows 10 LTSB (long-term service enterprise branch), and Windows Server will continue to support Internet Explorer 11, but not many people use these OS versions. Ding, dong, the IE is dead!

Source: PCGamer