Internet Explorer, The Internet’s Living Fossil, Is Finally Dead For Good

Internet Explorer, The Internet’s Living Fossil, Is Finally Dead For Good

Microsoft says the browser finally, officially, actually dies for good. Death date: February 14, 2023.

This prompt appears when the new update for Edge is applied, which permanently kills IE. Image: Microsoft

If at this day and age you’re somehow still using Internet Explorer – which, mind you, Microsoft has preemptively announced for years they’re going to kill it for good – bad news: it’s finally dead. Web devs rejoice.

Since Internet Explorer was outright disabled in Windows 11, that leaves Windows 10 (as far as actively supported OSes go) as the only place left still with the ancient web browser. The company decided they don’t want to wait anymore and has in fact pushed the death date ahead from June down to Valentine’s Day. At this date, a new update through Edge (not linked to Windows Update) will actively disable IE and shut it down for good.

Beyond this point, anything that has to do with IE’s functionality (legacy features such as ActiveX) will be automatically switched over to Edge – the browser already has an ‘IE mode’ built in years ago for this purpose. Microsoft is not even letting its guts lying around – future security updates for Windows is set to wipe off any references to IE11 – including icons, links and more.

There will be a single exception, though: government or organizations that rely on Windows 10 LTSC (Long-term Service Channel) or Windows 7 ESU (Extended Security Updates) will get to use IE as it is – as many of the proprietary software for these purposes are limited to legacy systems. For everyone else: pay farewell to the long-lived browser that many people lived with, but perhaps not liked.

Source: PCMag

Pokdepinion: Internet Explorer is probably the hardest-to-kill software ever there is…