Microsoft has taken the final steps to retire defunct web browser Internet Explorer (IE), rounding out the phased termination.
First launched in August final yr, the Internet Explorer retirement roadmap consisted of a variety of levels, with assist for the browser slowly falling away from a wider and wider vary of Microsoft companies.
As of this week, Microsoft has withdrawn Internet Explorer assist for all Microsoft 365 apps, bringing the sunsetting course of to a shut. While some Microsoft 365 apps should operate through the browser, customers ought to anticipate a severely diminished expertise.
“Support is now unavailable for Microsoft 365 apps and services on IE11,” the up to date roadmap states. “Additionally, you should expect no new features when accessing Microsoft 365 apps and services on IE11 and that the daily usage experience for users could get progressively worse over time until the apps and services are disconnected.”
Goodbye, Internet Explorer
Internet Explorer has lengthy been the butt of jokes within the know-how neighborhood, ridiculed for its pace points and clunky person interface. The transfer to retire the browser, which first hit the scene in 1995, may be seen as an admission of its irrelevance to fashionable customers.
The web browser’s decline is writ giant in its market share, which tumbled from a peak of circa 95% to simply a handful of proportion factors as newer, extra feature-rich alternate options emerged.
In a bid to claw again misplaced floor, Microsoft has now positioned all its eggs within the Edge basket. The firm rebooted the browser in January 2020 and has since sunk appreciable assets into constructing out new performance to assist Edge stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the likes of Firefox and Chrome.
“Customers have been using IE 11 since 2013 when the online environment was much less sophisticated than the landscape today. Since then, open web standards and newer browsers - like the new Microsoft Edge - have enabled better, more innovative online experiences,” wrote Microsoft when the IE roadmap was introduced.
“We believe that Microsoft 365 subscribers, in both consumer and commercial contexts, will be well served with this change through faster and more responsible web access to greater sets of features in everyday toolsets like Outlook, Teams, SharePoint and more.”
However, for all its faults and limitations, Internet Explorer will probably be remembered fondly by many, like this author, whose earliest experiences on the net it helped {shape}. Rest in peace, outdated pal.
