On August 17, 2021, a year from the publishing of this article, Microsoft will sound the death knell for Internet Explorer. As of that date, Internet Explorer 11 will no longer be supported by many of Microsoft’s own services, including Outlook, OneDrive, Office 365, and more, according to a post on the Microsoft 365 Blog.
Microsoft is also ending support for Internet Explorer in Teams even earlier: November 30 of this year.
That said, the browser isn’t totally going away; there’s no word on when Internet Explorer will be removed from Windows 10 itself, and businesses will still be able to access sites built specifically for the browser.
It’s also worth noting the new Edge has an Internet Explorer 11 compatibility mode that should assuage those making the transition.
It’s not just Internet Explorer though; Microsoft is also retiring the legacy version of Edge — the pre-Chromium version. After March 9, 2021, the old Edge will no longer receive security updates. By then, most users should be on the new Edge, but it’s still worth noting if you’re the type of person who goes through every length to avoid updates.
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It’ll likely be a while before we see Internet Explorer die completely; I still know people who use the outdated browser because it’s all they’ve ever known, and many businesses are notoriously reluctant to change software. Still, you’ve got to start somewhere.
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