Microsoft Ends Support For Internet Explorer

Although Microsoft has ended security support for its old browser,  the Internet Explorer (IE), you can enable it on Edge.

So, the IE still lives on for some devices while the company has officially retired it.

Recall that Microsoft had told users that it would stop supporting the Internet Explorer desktop application.

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Well, yesterday, June 15th, 2022, the company officially stopped supporting the IE.

What becomes the fate of users?

Well, the company said it has replaced the Internet Explorer with Microsoft Edge.

Meanwhile, note that Microsoft built in what it calls the Internet Explorer Mode into the Microsoft Edge.

It said the Explorer browser, however, lives on as a configurable mode within Microsoft Edge.

Why Microsoft retired the Internet Explorer:

Well, Microsoft said the Internet Explorer is not as fast as its new browser, the Microsoft Edge.

Also the company said the IE has less security that its newer Edge.

The Internet Explorer, which was the standard browser for the world, started becoming unpopular after its IE6 version.

That version had many flaws including frustrating performance.

Also, faster and better browsers like Google’s Chrome and Mozilla’s Firefox took over.

The development led IE’s share of the worldwide market to decline to 0.64% as atMay, 2022, according to Statcounter.

According to Microsoft, the modern Edge browser will give users more secure experience than Internet Explorer ever was.

To discourage users from continuous usage of the IE, Microsoft, in 2020, disabled access to many sites via the IE.

Also, the company said the Edge browser is faster and more modern than the IE.

In a statement, the tech company said Microsoft Edge is more compatible with older websites and applications.

Microsoft built Edge on Chromium, a basic platform which Google built its own browser, Chrome.

Also, Edge is compatible with Chrome extensions and supports much of the same functionality.

But it said Internet Explorer lacks these capabilities.

“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 explained in a blog post last year.

Versions of Windows that won’t be having access to Microsoft Explorer:

Microsoft noted that it will only phase out Internet Explorer on Windows 10 20H2 and later versions.

There are exceptions though.

In a post, PCWorld reported that Microsoft listed exception. It said thus:

“If you’re still stuck on Windows 8.1, the end-of-life notice won’t apply, either.

“And for app developers who embed web content through the MSHTML (Trident) engine, the app is unchanged by IE11 retirement and will continue to be supported.”

Implications:

Japanese government and companies are the hardest hit by this development.

Majority of Japanese businesses built their firms around the IE.

Also, government agencies equally run the browser.

A survey in March found that 49% o f companies in the Asian nation still use IE.

Most Japanese companies and government agencies use IE for in-house management, data exchange and accounting systems.

Microsoft gave the notice of retirement a year ago, which is enough time for businesses and governments to transition away from Internet Explorer.

However, Japanese firms were reluctant.

Consequently, the retirement of the IE has drastically affected them.

“Japanese love safety. The larger the organization or government, the more hesitant they are to move,” said Tetsutaro Uehara, professor at Ritsumeikan University.

“The biggest issue is that, when it comes to government websites, there are only a limited number of vendors who can implement such large systems.”