By Leonard A. Robinson
Microsoft is pulling the plug on Internet Explorer.
The Internet Explorer desktop application will be retired and go out of support on June 15, 2022, along with support for certain versions of Windows 10, Microsoft said in a May 19 statement.
“The future of Internet Explorer on Windows 10 is in Microsoft Edge,” said Microsoft executive Sean Lyndersay. “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 has a plan for late adapters as well. Edge has an “IE” mode that allows users to access Explorer-based websites and apps from the Edge browser, read the statement.
The Seattle-based tech giant announced in 2020 that Microsoft apps were ending their support for Internet Explorer in August of 2021. Microsoft Teams and 365 users lost Internet Explorer 11 support on Nov. 30 of last year.
“Customers have been using IE 11 since 2013 when the online environment was much less sophisticated than the landscape today,” Microsoft said. “Since then, open web standards and newer browsers – like the new Microsoft Edge – have enabled better, more innovative online experiences.”
Microsoft launched its Edge browser five years ago as the company was trying to improve the struggling performance of Internet Explorer. According to CNET, doing so led to the embrace of web-based technology to compete with operating systems of mobile OSs, like Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS and iPadOS.
The company announced that it would rebuild Edge on Google Chromium, an open-source project at the heart of Google Chrome’s browser.
Microsoft’s decision places Internet Explorer among other early internet era products in the technological graveyard, such as AOL Instant Messenger, which was retired in 2017, and Tumbler, which was sold in 2019.
