Today is June 15, 2022, and it is also the day when the Internet Explorer browser officially says goodbye to us. After discontinuing support for IE 11, Microsoft strongly recommends using the new version of Microsoft Edge based on Chromium. If necessary, you can access certain we

Today is June 15, 2022, which is also the day when the Internet Explorer browser officially says goodbye to us. After stopping support for IE 11, Microsoft strongly recommends using the new version of Microsoft Edge based on Chromium. If necessary, you can access certain websites through IE Mode.

IE 11 is the default browser for Windows 8.1 systems. Although it never reached the heights of Chrome, it was still the second largest desktop browser in 2014, behind IE8. Of course, a lot has changed since then, with the advent of Microsoft Edge in 2015.

In 2015, Edge became the default browser for Windows 10 systems, which is the classic version of Edge that we are familiar with. Starting in 2020, Microsoft switched to the new version of Edge based on Chromium, and then the browser entered the fast lane of development.

talks to IE 11, which browser has been retired in all consumer Windows versions. However, users can still access

● IE Mode

in Microsoft Edge● Internet Explorer platforms including WebOC (MSHTML/Trident)

● IE 11 desktop applications can still run on the following platforms

◎ Windows 8.1

◎ Windows 7 Extended Security Updates (ESU)

◎ Windows 10 Server SAC (all versions)

◎ Windows 10 IoT Long-Term Servicing Channel (LTSC) (all versions)

◎ Windows 10 Server LTSC (all versions)

◎ Windows 10 client LTSC (all versions)

This means Internet Explorer 11 installed on all other SKUs will no longer receive support or security updates. The browser is also not installed on Windows 11.

Naturally, Microsoft recommends that all users should migrate to Microsoft Edge. If you rely on certain legacy websites and software that only use IE browser , Microsoft has also added a feature called "IE Mode" in Edge to address this use case.

It's worth noting that while IExplore.exe will remain on the device, Microsoft will phase it out in two phases.

● Phase 1

Phase 1 will follow a quality-driven process to automatically redirect IE usage to Microsoft Edge. Microsoft emphasizes that Windows Update does not power this redirection, so avoiding installing updates just to bypass this process is a futile effort. Microsoft will also prompt you, "The future of Internet Explorer is Microsoft Edge." The entire process can take several months.

● The second phase

The second retirement phase starts immediately after the first phase ends. It will permanently disable IE on all affected Windows SKUs via Windows Update (an optional "C" update and a "B" cumulative update).

Microsoft has strictly stated that Internet Explorer 11 should not be completely uninstalled as it powers Edge's IE mode. That said, you should know that IE mode is not always supported. Its end of support dates for Windows SKUs are as follows.

For businesses, IE Group Policy will continue to work in IE mode, but if you face any issues, you can contact the App Assure team. The same approach is also recommended for organizations facing issues loading websites in IE mode.

Finally, many websites, including Microsoft's own and those owned by other companies, have been dropping support for IE11 over the past few months, so it's best to completely move your workflow to other supported browsers sooner rather than later.