Dates & Details You Need to Know About the Phaseout of Internet Explorer 11
Internet Explorer was pretty much synonymous with the internet during the early 2000s. It was launched in 1995 and has been a mainstay of the Windows operating system until recently.
The first sign that it might be on its way out at some point was when Microsoft brought out their Edge browserin 2015 and began making a transition in their marketing from the old to the new.
While IE is still around, it’s starting to show more signs of being sunset, the next of which is the loss of support from the Microsoft 365 platform.
Evolution and change is a common story of business technology solutions. Systems are upgraded, old legacy systems are left behind, and the world moves on.
So, what do these new developments mean for Internet Explorer?
We’ll go through all the dates and details that you need to know.
What’s Happening with IE 11 Support?
First, let’s address right off the bat the worry about IE being left without any support at all. This is not the case, and Internet Explorer is not yet at the end of life phase of its lifecycle.
IE is a component of the Windows OS, so it takes on the lifecycle of that OS. This means if you’re running Windows 10, IE is fully supported. If you’re running Windows 7, however, you’re at risk because that OS reached EOL on January 14, 2020, and it’s beyond time to upgrade.
While IE is not hitting end of life yet, it’s reaching the end of support for a pretty significant cloud platform, Microsoft 365.
When software or browsers begin to work with fewer and fewer applications due to loss of support, it’s a sign that it’s time to upgrade to a newer model. Technology marches on, but rarely looks back, so you need to prepare by understanding what the impact dates are and what they mean.
November 30, 2020: Microsoft Teams Stops Support for IE 11
At the end of November, you can no longer use Teams in the IE 11 browser and maintain support. This means that you may not be able to access the app at all or that your experience will be problematic.
This is an important date to know for anyone that uses Teams for video conferencing with others outside their organisation. To avoid problems with people connecting, you’ll want to proactively alert any Teams meeting attendees about the drop in support of IE 11 and suggest they use a compatible browser instead.
Compatible browsers with Teams include:
- Edge
- Chrome
- Safari
Firefox can be used, but doesn’t support all Teams features, according to Microsoft.
August 17, 2021: Microsoft 365 Stops Supporting IE 11
In August of next year, the rest of the Microsoft 365 applications will drop support for Internet Explorer. This includes the entire app family – Word, Outlook, Excel, OneDrive, SharePoint, etc.
According to Microsoft, once that date arrives, customers “will have a degraded experience or will be unable to connect to Microsoft 365 apps and services on IE 11.”
What is meant by a “degraded” experience?
It means that new Microsoft 365 features will not be available if using Internet Explorer or certain features may stop working altogether in the app. So, if your office uses Microsoft 365, you’ll need to have already migrated to a new browser by then or you could experience downtime.
March 9, 2021: Microsoft Edge Legacy Reaches End of Life
This date is important for anyone that has already upgraded from IE to Edge or is planning to upgrade before IE 11 has problems with any of the Microsoft 365 programs.
Edge Legacy is the non-chromium version of Microsoft Edge that came out initially before the Chromium upgrade. This browser is reaching end of life this coming March, which means the end of important security updates.
If you’re using Edge Legacy or if you plan to upgrade from IE 11, make sure to upgrade to the Chromium-powered Edge browser.
How to Avoid a Two-Browser Workflow
Some businesses may still need IE for legacy IE 11 websites to work properly, but they also might use Microsoft 365, which could leave their team having to switch between two different browsers throughout the day.
Microsoft has considered this, and has added an IE Mode inside the Edge browser. This eliminates the need to have both IE and Edge on your computer.
With IE Mode enabled, any sites that you designate will be opened in IE 11 and all other sites opened in Edge, from a single browser.
Migrate Your Browser Data with Help from Enable Technology
A browser upgrade done incorrectly can leave your UK business with a mess and lost productivity. We can help you through a proper browser migration, ensuing all bookmarks, passwords, and other data are handled correctly.