Goodbye Internet Explorer, forever
Microsoft has finally, fully retired the browser
Wave goodbye to Internet Explorer as Microsoft has just permanently shut down the much-maligned web browser of old.
The death knell sounded for Internet Explorer last year when Microsoft announced it would stop releasing security updates for the browser. But the final nail has now been firmly hammered into the web browser’s coffin through a new update for Microsoft Edge.
“The retired, out-of-support Internet Explorer 11 desktop application has been permanently disabled through a Microsoft Edge update on certain versions of Windows 10,” a Microsoft support page reads.
➡️ The Shortcut Skinny: Internet Explorer falls
💀 Outdated web browser Internet Explorer has kicked the bucket
😎 Microsoft will now push users to its newer, snazzier Edge browser
↗ Try loading up IE on Windows 10 and you’ll be redirected to Edge
⌛ Internet Explorer’s demise has been a long time coming
The vast majority of Windows users will no longer be able to even launch the latest version of Internet Explorer and will be redirected to Microsoft Edge instead. Bookmarks and browsing data should be transferred across browsers automatically, so you can continue with no interruptions.
It will remain accessible on some non-consumer versions of Windows, including – rather bizarrely – the Windows 10 China Government Edition, but we can probably assume you’re not going to be using that.
Internet Explorer has been on the way out for some time. Microsoft announced Edge back in 2015, pitching it as the new go-to Microsoft browser that would replace the sluggish performance and outdated UI of its predecessor. Edge does still include an Internet Explorer (IE) compatibility mode designed for organizations and legacy apps that rely on the web browser, which will be supported “at least through 2029”.
Edge was rebuilt in 2018 as a Chromium-based web browser, using the same codebase that powers rival Google Chrome. It’ll likely get a few big makeovers in the future, too.
After announcing a multi-billion dollar investment in artificial research company OpenAI, Microsoft has gone all-in on the burgeoning AI field. It recently announced a new AI-powered version of Bing as well as AI tools for Microsoft Teams. However, it’s first AI-powered Bing demo did not go well.
Don’t be surprised if Edge gets a major AI makeover sometime soon as well. Whether that’ll actually be a good thing and improve the user experience, we’ll just have to wait and see.