Microsoft is officially abandoning Internet Explorer, its first web browser, encouraging its latest users to switch to Edge. The software still works, but it should no longer be used for security.
End clap for Internet Explorer (IE for friends)! As Microsoft announced last year, the venerable web browser is going into forced retirement: it will no longer receive any updates – not even security – from Wednesday June 15, 2022, which greatly compromises its use. On Windows 10, where it was still integrated as standard, a message invites you to switch to Edge, the new generation browser that Microsoft has implemented since 2015. The question does not arise for Windows 11, which had been cleared from the outset of the ancestor. Only users of old versions of Windows, such as Windows 7 or 8.1, will still be able to make it work in its latest version (IE 11), but this is clearly not recommended, for obvious security issues. The same goes for special editions Windows Server LTSC, Windows Server 2022, Windows 10 LTSC and Windows 10 IoT LTSC, which are entitled to a small reprieve.
Internet Explorer: an outdated pioneer
Internet Explorer therefore officially bows out, after more than twenty-five years of good and loyal service. It’s a page that turns for a whole generation that enjoyed its supremacy as the benchmark web browser, before seeing it decline, slowly but inevitably. Arrived in the mid-90s with Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0, Internet Explorer was widely used because it was integrated as standard in Microsoft’s operating systems. Its rise continued until 2004, when it had a 95% market share. But here it is: Microsoft has not been able to resist the rise of more modern browsers like Chrome or Firefox, and its flagship software has gradually lost its luster to make way for its successor Edge, in 2015, designed on new basics. In fact, Internet Explorer was supplanted by Chrome from 2012, and almost no one uses it today. According to the specialized site Statcounterthe old Microsoft browser only represented 0.39% of market share in April 2022. compared to 64.34% for Chrome…
Victim of numerous security flaws that have earned it a terrible reputation, Internet Explorer will not be missed by anyone, except perhaps a few nostalgic people. Especially since it is no longer compatible with many sites that display poorly, or even with Microsoft services. So, since November 30, 2021, Microsoft Teams is no longer supported by Internet Explorer 11, and from August 17, other Microsoft 365 applications and services will also not work in the old browser, which has also become slower and slower.
Edge: Microsoft’s new browser
The disappearance of Internet Explorer marks the end of an era and one of the symbols of the Internet for a whole generation, for whom the browser was inseparable from the expansion of the Web. Even with its decline, the browser has managed to remain in hearts by being gently ridiculed through many memes and jokes. One of the most famous jokes is that everyone uses Internet Explorer at least once: to download another browser! IE also has parody accounts dedicated to it on social networks.
If you want to say goodbye to Internet Explorer, you can still find it in Windows 10, where it is installed as standard, but somewhat hidden. Just type its name in the search bar to launch it. But watch your eyes if you arrive on incompatible sites!
And if you use sites or online services that were specifically designed for Internet Explorer, including ActiveX components, an outdated technology, you can still access them with Edge. All you have to do is switch to IE compatibility mode. Whatever the versions of Windows, the Internet Explorer mode integrated into Edge will remain usable at least until 2029, the time for developers to adapt their old applications.
Microsoft now wants to focus on the development of Edge, on which it puts all its hopes. The publisher is constantly improving it by adding new functions, some of which are very original. However, there is still a long way to go before worrying the Emperor Chrome: still according to Statcounterit represented only 4% of market share in April 2022…