Microsoft dropped Web Explorer from Home windows 11, as a substitute solely making it accessible by ‘IE Mode’ on the brand new Edge browser. Now the corporate is making ready to take away it from some builds of Home windows 10, too.
Microsoft confirmed once more final month that the Web Explorer 11 desktop software can be retired on June 15, 2022 — two days from the publication of this text. The replace can be rolled out to Home windows 10 model 20H2 and later, however server and enterprise editions of Home windows 10 are unaffected. Nothing will change for anybody nonetheless utilizing Home windows 8.1, 7, or earlier variations both.
So, what precisely is altering? Properly, Microsoft says the Web Explorer software “can be progressively redirected to Microsoft Edge over the next months.” Web Explorer will nonetheless be current within the Begin Menu, taskbar, and different areas, however clicking it should open Edge. Recordsdata that used to open with IE (like internet shortcuts and HTML paperwork) may even redirect to Edge.
Ultimately, IE can be completely turned off with a future system replace. As soon as that occurs, all traces of IE can be eliminated fully. Microsoft recommends utilizing Web Explorer Mode in Edge (which makes use of the IE engine) should you nonetheless must entry websites that don’t work in fashionable browsers.
Importantly, the embedded Web Explorer engine in Home windows (MSHTML) isn’t going away, simply the desktop browser. The MSHTML engine powers embedded internet views in lots of Home windows functions, which is why it’s even included in Home windows 11, and it’s used for IE Mode in Edge. Microsoft plans to proceed supporting IE Mode in Edge till 2029 on the earliest.
The upcoming transition may need extra of a historic influence than the rest. Web Explorer was a fixture within the pc world for many years, and now it’s lastly going away (as an impartial software) on platforms Microsoft nonetheless helps. It’s the top of an period, and never one I feel most individuals will miss.
Supply: Microsoft