In brief: Microsoft announced that it would stop supporting Internet Explorer next year. It’s not a big surprise. The Edge browser is far superior and has received much more development attention in recent years, partly because it is based on the Chromium engine.
Microsoft has indicated within the last year that it would eventually burn Internet Explorer for good. Last August, the company said Microsoft 365 would drop support for Internet Explorer by August 17, 2021. A couple of months later, users found that IE would redirect some websites to Microsoft Edge because of compatibility issues.
Microsoft Edge Group Program Manager Sean Lyndersay confirmed the company’s stance in a Wednesday blog post, stating, “Over the last year, you may have noticed our movement away from Internet Explorer (“IE”) support. Today, we are at the next stage of that journey: we are announcing that the future of Internet Explorer on Windows 10 is in Microsoft Edge.”
Lyndersay said that Edge provides a better browsing experience than Internet Explorer and has for some time now. Its only issue was in rendering legacy websites. Developers ironed out those problems by creating an IE mode within Edge. So the newer browser is ready to take over as Microsoft’s and Window’s official browser.
In a separate video announcement (above), Microsoft’s Principal PM Manager for the App Assure Program Aleks Lopez, said that app developers with IE apps did not have to worry about compatibility issues with their apps. If they encounter problems while running in IE mode, Microsoft will help them fix the bugs “free of charge.”
Microsoft will retire Internet Explorer for “certain versions” of Windows 10 on June 15, 2022. In-market Windows 10 LTSC and Server Internet Explorer 11 remain supported. You can find full details in Microsoft’s IE FAQs.
Image credit: Daniel Constante