14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft has stopped rolling out new updates for Internet Explorer, and now that the browser is history, the company is preparing for the next step in its browser push.
The software giant will soon start an automatic migration of the existing Internet Explorer users to Microsoft Edge.
A prompt will be displayed on the affected devices to tell users that “the future of Internet Explorer is in Microsoft Edge.”
All browsing data, including favorites, passwords, and history, will be moved automatically to Microsoft Edge as part of this migration.
“Over the next few months, opening Internet Explorer will progressively redirect users to our new modern browser, Microsoft Edge with IE mode. Users will still see the Internet Explorer icon on their devices (such as on the taskbar or in the Start menu) but if they click to open Internet Explorer, Microsoft Edge will open instead with easy access to IE mode. Eventually, Internet Explorer will be disabled permanently as part of a future Windows Update, at which point the Internet Explorer icons on users’ devices will be removed,” Sean Lyndersay, General Manager, Microsoft Edge Enterprise, explains.
“As part of this redirection process, users will have their data like favorites, passwords and settings imported from Internet Explorer—this will help make the transition to Microsoft Edge both familiar and simple. If a user wants to delete or manage their data at any point after, they can always do so in Microsoft Edge from the Settings menu.”
All-in on the IE mode in Microsoft Edge
Needless to say, not a lot of home users are still running Internet Explorer, so the demise of the browser is more likely to affect companies that have specifically developed apps to support this browser.
This is why Microsoft is encouraging everybody to switch to the IE mode bundled with Microsoft Edge, which essentially allows users to open a specific website in Microsoft Edge using Internet Explorer compatibility.