Update: June 29th 2021:
It seems that Microsoft isn't messing around. In a recent article, Microsoft officially announced the retirement of Internet Explorer 11. On June 15, 2022, Microsoft will no longer support the legacy browser application.
The announcement probably doesn't come as a shock to many, but I would be lying if I said it didn't sadden me a little bit. For most users, Internet Explorer was their surfboard of choice for surfing the web from 2000-2010. However, while Chrome and Firefox rapidly developed to support evolving trends, IE couldn't keep up. As a result, users began migrating to these other platforms in droves.
So who's affected?
Currently, Windows 10 versions 20H2 and newer are impacted by this announcement. This means that all versions of Windows 10 LTSC (long-term servicing channel) and Windows Server operating systems are out of the scope of this announcement. While this will likely change in the future, it could be several years before Windows 10 LTSC and Windows Server are impacted.
Is it time to panic? Possibly.
It's well known that some enterprises still rely on legacy websites and applications that require IE 11 to function. If this sounds like your network environment, then you have a few options.
Start testing IE mode in Edge: IE Mode is designed to support legacy sites and applications in Edge. Microsoft seems pretty confident that it will provide the functionality needed to support your legacy processes.
Contact the developer to see if they will begin supporting modern browsers: While developers probably should have switched years ago, this announcement may be the kick they need to finally start transitioning to newer platforms.
Look for replacement applications & processes: This one may seem obvious, but if a product your organization uses isn't willing to update, it may be time to find a new vendor who is. Use this announcement as a way to convince your department heads that a change is no longer needed but necessary.
Use a version of Windows 10 LTSC: I'm only mentioning this because it's a possible option. However, if you're not already using LTSC, then you should really exhaust the other options on this list before going this route.
As more information becomes available, we will continue to update this article. We will also update the Important Dates section with relevant information. Feel free to bookmark this page to find all the latest information regarding the slow passing of our old friend, Internet Explorer.
Original Article
All software has a finite life cycle; computers, in general, are shifting and improving way too often for all software to remain relevant. Sometimes it means some great software is losing support, and sometimes it means Internet Explorer 11 is on the block.
My personal snark about it aside, IE11 is widely used, and it falling out of support could have a massive impact on your environment. The first important thing to note is falling out of support does not necessarily mean it is going away. In fact, it is considered a component of Windows 10, so it won’t be going anywhere for some time. Out of support does mean that new software will no longer be optimized for IE11, so while it may seem fine initially, you are likely to see exponential growth of issues as time goes on.
Is Internet Explorer Going Away?
Legacy Edge(EdgeHTML) is also going to fall out of support, and that one is not considered a component. That one falling out of support means it won’t even be getting security updates, so moving off of that is a little more urgent.
Important Dates
Is IE 11 dead yet? Now that EOL has been announced, let’s take a look at some of the critical dates.
June 15, 2022 - Microsoft stops supporting IE11 for Windows 10 20H2 versions and newer
August 17, 2021 - Office 365 stops supporting IE11
March 9, 2021 - This is the Microsoft Edge legacy End of Life; this is when Microsoft will stop releasing security updates. This seems like an excellent point to make sure your end-users are using something else
November 30, 2020 - This is the day that the Microsoft Teams stop supporting IE11
Next Steps
One year's notice seems reasonable to me. You should probably use that year to decide on our replacement and make sure it works well with all of our web-based software. Microsoft shockingly recommends you use their latest browser, but this seems like an excellent chance to test all browsers and find your best solution.
Are you here much closer to the EoL than when this is published? and need a quick solution to blast out a browser to all users? Well, boy, are you in the right spot; you should look into PDQ Deploy and PDQ Inventory. We went ahead and built those installers for you, and have made it INCREDIBLY easy to push that to your environment.
Conclusion
Software is always changing, your web browser is no different. Use the year you have to make the change as painless as possible. In a perfect world, the end of all software cycles would be this low stress.
