Microsoft announced some heartbreaking news for Internet Explorer users on Valentine’s Day: Internet Explorer is no more. Internet Explorer, for years, was the primary way of accessing any website for a generation of computer users; Microsoft has been killing off the outdated browser’s desktop app after nearly 30 years with the release of an update to its newer Edge browser.
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Microsoft launched the browser in 1995 as one of the earliest and most popular browsers on the internet at the time. The company has issued 11 versions of Explorer, with the latest version released in 2013. Microsoft Edge, the company’s newest browser, was released in 2015 as Explorer’s replacement, although it coexisted on devices with Explorer until last week.
Microsoft announced the discontinuation of Explorer in June of last year, but it was until Tuesday that the software stopped working for customers. The graphic features and icons in the start menu and task bar of Internet Explorer 11 will likewise be phased out in June.
“The change to using Microsoft Edge update to disable IE [Internet Explorer] is intended to provide a better user experience and help organizations transition their last remaining IE11 users to Microsoft Edge,” the firm has said.
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It explained that, until the icons disappear in June, users clicking on Internet Explorer will be redirected to Microsoft Edge. “Their browsing data will be automatically brought over to Microsoft Edge from IE11 so they can seamlessly continue browsing.”
Be aware Microsoft plans to scrub Windows 10 clean of those references in an upcoming Windows security update scheduled for June 13 on Patch Tuesday. If you want to get rid of those references even earlier, you can download the preview “C” release scheduled for May 23. And if you’re worried about losing data, don’t be. In the Tech Community post announcing these changes(opens in a new tab), all browsing data will automatically move over to Edge.