14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft has already retired Internet Explorer, but users are being redirected to Microsoft Edge in stages.
The company, however, says that organizations that want to get rid of the browser right now can turn to a special policy called Disable IE that provides them with more control over the retirement process.
“For organizations that do not want to wait for the gradual redirection, or prefer to transition all of their users off of IE11 at once with Group Policy, the Disable IE Policy is our strongly recommended option to control the timing and rollout of the IE retirement process for their users. Using this policy gives you the ability to set your own schedule with your users and to communicate the transition accordingly. You can dictate precisely when IE is retired in your environment,” the software giant explains in an announcement.
The policy works as simple as it could work: it redirects all requests to Microsoft Edge, while also removing the IE11 icons from the Start menu and the taskbar.
Microsoft says the organizations where Internet Explorer is still running should enable the policy by November 1.
“Instead of waiting for the Windows Update to happen at a future date, we strongly encourage those organizations that have set up IE mode and that feel ready to transition off IE to use the Disable IE Policy to control when and how IE is disabled,” the company says.
“We suggest first rolling out the Disable IE Policy to small sets of devices to reduce risk, should there be any hidden pockets of IE dependent sites, and then rolling out to your entire organization once you've determined any missed sites. Since many organizations have end of year IT freezes and holiday time off, we recommend applying the Disable IE Policy by November 1, 2022 to avoid surprises and business disruption in case IE dependent websites were missed.”