End of an era: Microsoft is officially letting go of Internet Explorer after 27 years
The browser of many firsts.
Microsoft has hit the final nail on the coffin of Internet Explorer (IE), as the tech giant has announced that they are officially “retiring” the browser after 27 years on the job.
The soft blows have been happening in recent years, with Internet Explorer being removed from the Microsoft Teams app and Microsoft 365 services such as Office 365, Outlook, and OneDrive this August 17th. Not to mention that Microsoft themselves no longer call Internet Explorer an actual browser, but a so-called 'compatibility solution.'
This time around, they announced that the desktop application will no longer be available on Windows 10 and up starting June 15, 2022.
“We are announcing that the future of Internet Explorer on Windows 10 is in Microsoft Edge,” Microsoft Edge program manager Sean Lyndersay shared through a blog post.
“The Internet Explorer 11 desktop application will be retired and go out of support on June 15, 2022, for certain versions of Windows 10.”
The "faster, more secure, and more modern" Microsoft Edge browser launched in 2015 is set to replace Internet Explorer, although some features of IE can still be accessed through Edge.
If you're one of the lucky few that still uses Internet Explorer, Microsoft recommends easing into using Microsoft Edge before IE's retirement.
Photo from Bloomberg News