Microsoft Retires Internet Explorer After 25 Years

Microsoft has officially retired Internet Explorer (IE), Windows’ legacy web browser, as of June 15, 2022.

“Internet Explorer’s reputation today is, deservedly, one of a product from an older era—quirky in behaviour and lacking the security of a modern browser,” said Sean Lyndersay, General Manager of Microsoft Edge Enterprise.

“But its contributions to the evolution of the web have been remarkable, from helping to make the web truly interactive with DHTML and AJAX to hardware-accelerated graphics to innovations in touch/pen browsing.”

Internet Explorer will be replaced by Microsoft’s Chromium-based Edge browser. “Microsoft Edge is a faster, more secure and modern browser—the best browser for Windows—designed for today’s internet,” said Lyndersay.

While both Edge and Internet Explorer had been concurrently available on Windows machines so far, Microsoft announced IE’s end-of-life last year.

Windows users will still have the Internet Explorer application and its icons on their devices, but opening IE will simply redirect them to Edge.

Image: Microsoft

When users switch to Edge, they will be able to import all of their favourites, passwords, and compatible settings from Internet Explorer for a more familiar transition. All traces of Internet Explorer will be removed from Windows devices via a future Windows Update.

Microsoft is adding a dedicated “IE mode” to Edge that will allow users to load and use some websites, mainly older ones, that still require Internet Explorer’s aging feature-set and technology.

Users who migrate to Edge from Internet Explorer will also get a new “Reload in IE mode” button in Edge’s toolbar. If they are on a website that may not function correctly on modern browsers or one that specifically asks them to open it using Internet Explorer, clicking on this button will reload the page in IE mode.

Image: Microsoft

When reloading a page in IE mode, users can also tell Edge to automatically open it in IE mode every time.

Furthermore, IT administrators can configure specific older, legacy websites that are used by their organization to automatically load in Edge’s IE mode every time across their entire network.

Microsoft will continue to support IE mode in Edge until at least 2029.

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