Microsoft had previously announced that the Internet Explorer 11 (IE11) desktop web application would be permanently disabled via a Windows update on some Windows 10 systems in February 2023.
In a new development, the Redmond giant has now revealed that the retired, out-of-support Internet Explorer 11 desktop web browser would get permanently disabled through a Microsoft Edge update on certain versions of Windows 10 on February 14, 2023, as opposed to a Windows update as previously announced.
RELATED: Download Internet Explorer For Windows 11
For those unaware, the Internet Explorer 11 (IE11) desktop web application has been out of support since June 15, 2022.
“All remaining devices that have not already been redirected from IE11 to Microsoft Edge are scheduled to be redirected with the Microsoft Edge update scheduled for February 14, 2023,” Microsoft said on Friday.
“The change to use Microsoft Edge update to disable IE is intended to provide a better user experience and help organizations transition their last remaining IE11 users to Microsoft Edge.”
Organizations that are dependent on IE11 are advised to take action and complete their transition before February 14, 2023, or “risk business disruption at scale when users lose access to IE11-dependent applications”, says Microsoft. However, those who have already transitioned from IE11 to Chromium-based Edge with IE mode will not be impacted.
Further, organizations admins are also advised to speed up and remove IE visual references, such as the IE11 icons on the Start Menu and Windows taskbar, using the Disable IE policy before February 14, 2023, as these will remain in the operating system until the non-security preview release on certain Windows 10 versions scheduled for May 23, 2023 (optional) and the June 2023 Windows monthly security update is released by Microsoft.
Recently, we reported that Microsoft Edge version 109 will be the last browser version to support Windows 7 and Windows 8/8.1, which is scheduled for release on January 12th, 2023.
While Microsoft Edge version 109 will continue to work on Windows 7 and Windows 8/8.1, these operating systems will stop receiving new features, future security updates, or bug fixes in January 2023. The company has encouraged its users to upgrade to Windows 10 or later to get new versions of Microsoft Edge with up-to-date functionality and security.
