Microsoft will be automatically redirecting Internet Explorer users to its Edge browser over the next few months as the browser has officially retired today.
According to The Verge, consumers or businesses still using the browser will start to see a prompt soon that will redirect them to Microsoft Edge instead.
The prompt and redirect is the first step in fully removing Internet Explorer from existing PCs, and Microsoft plans to issue an update that will disable the aging browser in the future.
“Eventually, Internet Explorer will be disabled permanently as part of a future Windows Update, at which point the Internet Explorer icons on their devices will be removed,” explained Sean Lyndersay, general manager of Microsoft Edge Enterprise, reported the outlet.
The redirect process to Edge will bring over data like passwords, favorites, and settings from Internet Explorer, and a “reload in IE mode” option will be presented in the toolbar to make it easy to access the special mode that Microsoft has built into Edge. IE mode supports older ActiveX controls that many legacy sites still use.
All currently supported versions of Windows 10 Home, Pro, Enterprise, Education, and IoT will be impacted by the Internet Explorer retirement. Windows 11 already ships without Internet Explorer.
“Internet Explorer will not be immediately removed on all these versions today but will be progressively redirected to Microsoft Edge on all these devices over the next few months,” said Lyndersay.
There will be a key exception, though. “For certain versions of Windows currently in support and used in critical environments, we will continue to support Internet Explorer on those versions until they go out of support,” he revealed, as per The Verge. (ANI)
