Do You Use Internet Explorer As Your Web Browser?
As with Windows XP, Microsoft are now planning to end updates and fixes for the older versions of Internet Explorer (IE).
Starting in January 2016 (it will get here quicker than you think) Microsoft will only support the latest versions of IE for updates and fixes.
It recommends that businesses that have standardised on older versions should now start planning to update to the latest iteration to continue to receive support.
An interesting departure from the policy of supporting older versions, which they do at present. It may also encourage businesses to look at alternatives too of course.
Developers may find the change beneficial as they will no longer have to support many different versions of IE, but some may also be forced to update their applications which don’t run on the latest version (IE11) at the moment.
It’s also to do with security, as this will make the users experience more secure and less susceptible to cyber-attack. Starting on 12th August this year they say that older plug-ins will also be blocked too, further enhancing security.
Microsoft also said they will provide information and resources to help those developers move to the latest IE versions.
With some people still running IE that’s up to 10 years old this is an understandable move and one which they feel will make the users experience more reliable and developers lives a little easier too.
Some notable IE facts
- Internet explorer was released in 1995 as part of Windows 95, 19 years ago.
- At its peak it had 95% user share in 2002/3. Other products like Firefox, Safari and Google Chrome have eroded that.
- In 1999 there were said to be over 1000 people at Microsoft working on Internet Explorer.
Don’t go exploring without the right equipment is a post from: Unique Network Solutions
This is post originally written at Don’t go exploring without the right equipment
