It’s finally happening folks.  Microsoft has officially marked the retirement of one of the most hated piece of software by web developers.

Over the last year, you may have noticed our movement away from Internet Explorer (“IE”) support, such as an announcement of the end of IE support by Microsoft 365 online services. Today, we are at the next stage of that journey: we are announcing that the future of Internet Explorer on Windows 10 is in Microsoft Edge. Not only is Microsoft Edge a faster, more secure and more modern browsing experience than Internet Explorer, but it is also able to address a key concern: compatibility for older, legacy websites and applications. Microsoft Edge has Internet Explorer mode (“IE mode”) built in, so you can access those legacy Internet Explorer-based websites and applications straight from Microsoft Edge. With Microsoft Edge capable of assuming this responsibility and more, the Internet Explorer 11 desktop application will be retired and go out of support on June 15, 2022, for certain versions of Windows 10.

As Redmond shifted it’s focus from Internet Explorer to Microsoft Edge in terms of development, we’ve always wonder how long before the plug is pulled on the venerable browser.  We finally  have that date, June 15, 2022 — at least for some versions of Windows 10.

For people running older versions of Windows and those locked in by their administrators on older patch levels — this change still needs to go through approval to push through.  For everyone else, especially those in the industry of web development — this is a highly welcome change with popular frameworks like Angular already dropping IE support.

In the off-chance that you still need old IE compatibility, Microsoft has added IE mode for Edge, allowing older Active-X controls for businesses that still rely on the legacy scripting language.  Microsoft is promising to support this IE mode in Edge until through at least 2029.

source Microsoft