Microsoft Says Goodbye to Internet Explorer, Legacy Edge

Microsoft announced today that it will phase out support for Internet Explorer 11 and Legacy Edge on Microsoft 365 over the next year.

“Microsoft 365 apps and services will no longer support Internet Explorer 11 (IE 11) by this time next year,” a new TechCommunity blog post reads. “Beginning November 30, 2020, the Microsoft Teams web app will no longer support IE 11. [And] beginning August 17, 2021, the remaining Microsoft 365 apps and services will no longer support IE 11.”

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To be clear, this means that users connecting with IE 11 after those dates will have a degraded experience at best or will no longer be able to connect to Microsoft 365 at worst. IE 11 is the most recent version of IE, and it debuted in 2013.

As for Legacy Edge, the original version of Microsoft Edge that debuted in Windows 10 in 2015, Microsoft says that it will no longer support that browser as of next year as well.

“Now that we’ve shipped the new Microsoft Edge, [sic] and upgraded most of our Windows 10 customers to the new browser, we’re ending support for the Microsoft Edge Legacy desktop app on March 9, 2021,” the post continues. “After March 9, 2021, the Microsoft Edge Legacy desktop app will not receive new security updates.”

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Conversation 21 comments

  • madthinus

    Premium Member
    17 August, 2020 - 2:36 pm

    <p>For once they are aggressive, sort off.</p>

  • ebraiter

    17 August, 2020 - 2:41 pm

    <p>SCOM 2012 R2 seems only to work with IE.</p><p>When i saw the subject line I thought they were killing IE support as in no more updates.</p>

  • garrett

    17 August, 2020 - 2:59 pm

    <p>I use the current beta version of Edge. When I want to save a link to the desktop complete with its' favicon I paste the URL into IE and then save the link to the Desktop. Edge honors it's favicon why not that of others? My reference library folder with many folders and sub-folders contains 4,600 links.</p>

    • Pierre Masse

      17 August, 2020 - 9:54 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#562050">In reply to Garrett:</a></em></blockquote><p>Geez, I had a hard time finding thirty interesting or useful sites since I started to browse the internet. I must be the most boring man on earth.</p>

  • Jarrett Kaufman (TurboFool)

    17 August, 2020 - 3:54 pm

    <p>What about SharePoint Online in this case? That's a concern because currently the only way to access a SharePoint folder in File Explorer is via IE. The security of Edge prevents this, as does every other web browser. Only way to get the function is via IE.</p>

    • codymesh

      17 August, 2020 - 11:54 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#562054">In reply to TurboFool:</a></em></blockquote><p>new edge has "IE mode", which is what I guess they expect people who need IE to use.</p>

    • rogeranderson

      18 August, 2020 - 12:00 am

      <blockquote><em><a href="#562054">In reply to TurboFool:</a></em></blockquote><p>You won't see that function in any other browser. It uses ActiveX which is outdated tech and IE only. </p>

    • evox81

      Premium Member
      18 August, 2020 - 12:53 am

      <blockquote><em><a href="#562054">In reply to TurboFool:</a></em></blockquote><p>They've replicated some of that functionality with OneDrive, although it "syncs" the folder rather than just opening it. But at least it tends to be more reliable than the old school way.</p><p><br></p><p>But I do still occasionally use the "open in access" function on SharePoint lists. And I don't know of any alternative way of accomplishing that.</p>

  • IanYates82

    Premium Member
    17 August, 2020 - 5:05 pm

    <p>Many will read this and assume it means no support in Windows for either browser… Not the case – they'll continue to get security updates if only because their engines, especially IE, is embedded in all sorts of third party apps for rendering things.</p><p><br></p><p>Basically I read this as Microsoft websites won't be tested in IE or Classic Edge anymore and thus may/will break in those older browsers in the near future. </p><p><br></p>

  • hrlngrv

    Premium Member
    17 August, 2020 - 6:03 pm

    <p>Last time I checked, there was a lot of <strong>Intra</strong>net software which claimed to be certified for IE11 but not for Edge. Maybe much of it was also certified for Google Chrome, so other Chromium-based browsers should also work, but MSFT may have some work to do with Intranet software vendors to certify Edge specifically. Otherwise, there could be problems for some financial services companies doing business in the US.</p>

    • mattbg

      Premium Member
      17 August, 2020 - 6:13 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#562113">In reply to hrlngrv:</a></em></blockquote><p>For sure. Parts of the HR system where I work still pops up messages telling you to use IE if you try to connect using Edge or Chrome. Thankfully it'll probably be another 5 years or so until we upgrade from Windows 10 Creators Edition (which isn’t even an LTSC build).</p>

    • VMax

      Premium Member
      17 August, 2020 - 8:58 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#562113">In reply to hrlngrv:</a></em></blockquote><p>This seems adequately covered in the announcement post with a link to the IE mode documentation, info about App Assure and a general commitment not to break anything.</p>

    • kjb434

      Premium Member
      17 August, 2020 - 10:34 pm

      <blockquote><a href="#562113"><em>In reply to hrlngrv:</em></a><em> </em></blockquote><p><br></p><p>The company I work for is dumping all all software that relies on IE 11 (DelTek's Vision) and switching to platforms that work in Chromium based browsers.</p><p><br></p><p>Full migration to be finished by next June.</p><p><br></p><p>We're only a 700 person firm, but still big shift.</p>

    • wright_is

      Premium Member
      18 August, 2020 - 12:24 am

      <blockquote><em><a href="#562113">In reply to hrlngrv:</a></em></blockquote><p>Most of it is certified for IE6 and can run in IE11 in legacy mode.</p>

  • codymesh

    17 August, 2020 - 11:55 pm

    <p>good moves, and I hope Microsoft eventually get around to removing and dropping even more legacy bits in the OS.</p>

  • anderb

    Premium Member
    18 August, 2020 - 2:28 am

    <p>They supported IE on Teams for longer than they supported Firefox. Tried to use the Teams web app with Firefox the other day and it won't allow video.</p>

  • dftf

    18 August, 2020 - 10:30 am

    <p>Didn't the Xbox 360 have Internet Explorer (based on IE9) and the current Xbox One (based on IE11)? I wonder if the new Xbox Series X will feature a built-in Edge (and whether this might get backported to the Xbox One — can't see it going onto the 360, given the last firmware update was Nov 2019 so it must be nearing end-of-life now?)</p><p><br></p><p>The other anomaly is Windows 7: Microsoft have said all-support for Edge on that OS ends July 2021, which means for ESU customers the only supported browser from then until Jan 2023 will be… Internet Explorer 11! (Well, only supported browser "from Microsoft" — I'm sure Firefox ESR will still run)</p><p><br></p><p>Windows Server 2012 (the "Vista server") is still supported for IE11 too, and I don't think the new Edge runs on that…</p>

  • oscar999

    18 August, 2020 - 1:54 pm

    <p>So…only the rest of the win32 bag of shit left to deal with now.</p>

    • Paul Thurrott

      Premium Member
      19 August, 2020 - 8:48 am

      Ok, but that “bag of shit” (sadly accurate) IS Windows.

  • HachingMonkey

    20 August, 2020 - 3:48 am

    <p>Will this affect Microsoft Compiled Help, which runs IE under the hood?</p>

  • yukon-cornelius

    21 August, 2020 - 6:06 am

    <p>@HatchingMonkey has a point, and let me expand on that. They actually tried to take IE11 down 4 months ago, but I left a few hints to my MS contacts that they blocked Win 8.1's family controls from accessing MS Account services, and it resumed 3 days later. Win 8.1 is still supported by the Fixed Policy that keeps Extended Support running through 10-Jan-2023, even though they're using Modern Policy's requirement of 12-24 months of pre-notice. I don't currently see LiveID or MS Account among the M365 services, but I do see OneDrive, Defender, and Program Compat is probably in there too, so who knows if 100% of Win 8.1's apps will continue to function on a vanilla install. Even worse, OneDrive says Windows File Explorer "requires IE11 or later," so who knows how deep the rabbit hole goes? :-)</p>

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