14 DAY TRIAL // Internet Explorer has already been abandoned by Microsoft in June this year, with the software giant now telling everybody to just switch to the IE mode bundled with Microsoft Edge for any compatibility reasons.
However, Internet Explorer is still there on Windows devices, and unfortunately, many users out there continue to run the browser despite the obvious security risks.
As observed by GHacks, Microsoft has now revealed that Internet Explorer will be completely disabled on Windows 10 devices with the release of the February 2023 Patch Tuesday updates.
At that point, the software giant will ship a new update specifically supposed to disable the old browser and therefore give users no other option than switch to the IE mode bundled with Microsoft Edge.
“The retired, out-of-support Internet Explorer 11 (IE11) desktop application will be permanently disabled on certain versions of Windows 10 as part of the February 2023 Windows security update ("B") release scheduled for February 14, 2023. We highly recommend setting up IE mode in Microsoft Edge and disabling IE11 prior to this date to ensure your organization doesn't experience business disruption,” Microsoft says.
The February 2023 deadline marks the second phase in the demise of Internet Explorer, and Microsoft says all updates that are installed after that will include the same behavior to kill off the browser.
“The second phase of retirement is the Windows Update phase. The Internet Explorer 11 desktop application will be permanently disabled when either of the following Windows updates are deployed to devices: (Optional) January 2023 Windows non-security preview ("C") release scheduled for January 17, 2023; February 2023 Windows security update ("B") release scheduled for February 14, 2023,” the software giant explains.
Needless to say, the lack of security updates makes Internet Explorer a piece of software to avoid, so users should migrate to Microsoft Edge as soon as possible.