Microsoft will stop supporting many older versions of Internet Explorer on Windows Vista, 7, and 8.1 on January 12, 2016, in an attempt to get users to move to the most recent versions of their web browser.
For the very few users who are still running a PC with Windows Vista SP2 installed, Microsoft will only support IE 9 after January 12, 2016. The same goes for PCs that are still using Windows Server 2008 SP2. For Windows 7 and 8.1 users, Microsoft will only support IE 11 after that date, ditching support for IE 8, 9 and 10. The same goes for PCs that are using Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 and Windows Server 2012 R2. PCs that are using the older Windows Server 2012 will still get support for IE 10.
Microsoft offers a number of reasons why Windows users should move on to the most recent version of IE for web browsing, including better security, more advanced website features and overall better performance than older versions. For business customers that may still be using legacy web apps, Microsoft says that the Enterprise Mode for Internet Explorer 11 should give them backward compatibility until they can make the transition to more modern web applications.
Microsoft stated:
"By offering better backward compatibility and resources to help customers upgrade, Microsoft is making it easier than ever before for commercial customers to stay current on the latest version of Internet Explorer. In addition to modern Web standards, improved performance, increased security, and greater reliability, migrating to Internet Explorer 11 also helps unlock upgrades to Windows 8.1 Update, services like Office 365, and the latest Windows devices."
What do you think of Microsoft making this decision to stop supporting older versions of IE, even if they still run on Windows Vista, 7 and 8.1?
Source: Microsoft
Reader comments
Microsoft to end support of many older Internet Explorer versions January 12, 2016
I believe that Microsoft should only support their latest browser and the last two versions rather than supporting all versions on still supported OS'. For example:
Instead of supporting IE11 until Windows 8.1 is no longer supported, support IE11 until IE13 is out.
I gave up supporting < IE8 2 years ago. It's functional but looks much worse in IE8. There's no excuse for people not to have upgraded or installed a suitable alternative.
My pages get a tiny gap on the right side that shouldn't be present. Lack of Ajax2 (file and form uploads) requires me to put in horrible fallbacks especially with files. Lack of datalists (programmable autocomplete) is only mildly annoying.
It's a good move. Supporting older browsers wastes time, money and energy. IE 11 is so much better than previous versions.
Good for them. Time to move on.
My problem is not MS wanting me to move to a more modern browser, but rather websites that refuse to upgrade their code. I can't use my company's timesheet program without IE11 being in Enterprise Mode. That's IE8 if I recalll. Not some rinky application either, we use Deltech, a pretty big resource for this sort of service. My wife has on-line courses required by the Gov that don't work on IE 10 or 11.
IE always is a b*tch for web developers. background-attachement: fixed (background photo slides sleek over another one) as an CSS example. Everything looks pretty awesome in all other (popular) browsers, but in IE it looks verry slobby. And that's just one simple example of a long list!
As of IE9 I've not had any CSS issues other than missing features. Using proper degrading techniques, you have have gradients degrade into solid colors. No big deal. My biggest complaint with IE9 is lack of ajax2 (file and form uploads) and lack of datalists (programmable autocomplete). IE10+ does both.
Finally!! I hate outdated browsers, it makes life so difficult, I mostly follow W3C standards as it makes life easier for developing for multiple browser since most of them support standards. Don't know why some stupid devs don't follow W3C standards :(
I use chrome for my default browser in Win7 as it opens fast and frezzes less than other browsers :)
The only thing IE11 misses is extensions, that's the only reason i never use IE11.
I'm a developer myself and Its not too bad. I start on firefox and then test on IE and work backwords until I don't need support. I get IE10+ for free. IE9 requires some polyfils which aren't too hard to do, but no actual CSS changes. IE8 only requires very minor CSS changes. IE7- is where it goes to hell, but I've never needed to support that and I no longer need to support IE8 now. If we could drop IE9 support, then I wouldn't have any issues at all.
That's great!, now my university will stop using the old IE. Wish freezers a lot.
It would help if at the very beginning the IE could be just an application (like other 2 major browsers are), and not embedded into an OS. It would be much easier to update IE when one does not have to look back at OS version.
Totally agree with you
IE is an application like the rest of them.
IE9 was not included in the OS. It was a standalone. However something was unusual about IE10's integration with 8 that made it hard to push to 7, so who knows.
It would be nice to upgrade, but I'm stuck on 9 because one of the required updates for 10/11 (referred to as a Platform Update) completely breaks video on my computer. The first sign of a problem is that Aero Glass stops working, but it very quickly becomes apparent that that isn't the only problem. Many apps stop drawing the window contents correctly, including the built-in Calculator app.
There are numerous discussions about the problem on Microsoft's web site, but nobody, including Microsoft, has come up with a fix. Microsoft hasn't even commented on the matter in their own forums.
This has been going on since beta versions of IE 10 were first released. You'd think in two years they'd have figured out the problem.
If laptop then save money for a new computer
if desktop purchase any modern video card (even in $50 range) and install. Problem solved.
I'm running a GeForce 760, but I've also tried the 480, 8800, 8500, and a 210. Same thing with every one of them.
IE the best browser for downloading other browser.. xD
About time I like the idea to the core, get people off the old windows things and plant in their heart that windows needs to be updated to function properly. I can't imagine people crying for XP smhs.
As a website developer for large corperations, It pains me when they require the sites to work on IE7 or 8. I hope this gets there IT departments to get there browsers up to date.
It would be wonderful to work in only a IE11 world (or any up-to-date browser world), right?
It's about time.
IE SUCKS! Sometimes I have to create "custom codes" just to make things work for it ¬¬. 1 Code for chrome, firefox and Opera and 1 code for IE. Standards, where are you?
Actually current IE is very standards compliant unless you are using newer code that is not officially acknowledged by the 3WC. Webkit browsers tend to have far more custom code than IE unless its a particularly old version. Personally, if this forces companies to update their stuff to not be only IE6 compatible, I will be so happy.
If anything Webkit is the one to look at as guilty of standards breaking. Webkit uses its hold on mobile to force its custom code in place rather than HTML5 standards.
In terms of CSS and HTML, I'm finding that most of the time when IE doesn't work properly it is because a site has implemented WebKit or Gecko extensions instead of following official industry standards.
In many ways this is much worse than the situation was years ago when developers targetted IE, because instead of one company breaking from standards, now everybody but Microsoft is doing it. So instead of one defacto unofficial standard, we've now got multiple. It's in many ways actually harder to build a site that works in all browsers than it used to be.
Have you tried 11? As a developer I find that when I code for firefox, I get chrome, and IE10+ for free. IE11 is exceptional especially if you have a touchscreen like a lenovo yoga 2 pro. I still prefer firefox on desktops though.
Finally, time to move on. The last week or so been so very unlike Microsoft, hopefully this IS really a new era of innovation and attention to customers!
John; Need to check the article again. Microsoft dropping support in January 2016, 18 months, not in 6 months.
You beat me to it. At my work, we have a web based app that only supports up to IE 9.
then get into the transition, dude, you have enough time for that :)
How do you know that it's up to him? Maybe it's third party software that the vendor hasn't updated yet.
My company is in the same boat. We have a very expensive and workflow critical third party web app that is built to only support the Google Chrome Frame add-in for IE. Unfortuntely, Google stopped making Chrome Frame after IE 9 so our entire company is forced to stay on IE9. We can't even use IE11 in Enterprise mode because you can't install Chrome Frame on IE11. Of course it was fairly stupid to buy a product from a vendor that develops "enterprise class" busniess applications with dependencies to Google products (consumer company), but you can't expect company executives to make good tech descisions or to involve their IT staff, right? Sadly, the vendor that made this software is not some little mom and pop business. They are a well known Forture 100 company.
Having said that, I'm not mad at MS. They need to drop support for this old technology. That is the only thing that will force vendors to update their software instead of telling us to not update ours. This is 2014 not 2004.
It might be important to note that this will take place starting January 12, 2016. Not 2015.
That's a year and a half away. Considering the huge impact of this decision its actually more than reasonable considering that before this decision, IE7 being a part of Vista meant that IE7 (which as a developer is a complete joke) would be supported until 2017 and IE8 (which as a developer I find to be a good HTML4 browser, but worthless in HTML5) being a part of windows 7 would be supported until 2020. Who knows with IE9 since it wasn't tied to a windows release. Windows 8 (and IE10) should have been 2022, but I think I heard that because of 8.1, microsoft is going to end it early.
My only other question is assuming that IE12 comes out in the next year, is how long do they support IE11? As a developer, personally I would love to see the rapid update schedule that both firefox and chrome have. An anual release for a browser is just too long. Then maybe take the google approach where you support the current version and the previous two.
Are they going to provide help to those sites who see my IE11 as an earlier version I.have more than a few that tell I need to upgrade to is 11 when I already am.
People still use IE? That's shocking!!!
Why shocking? Worldwide it's still the most used browser.
You gotta admit it's true. Many people hate IE, more from the younger generation. It's been out for so long, and when things are out for that long, people think it's crap, like AOL. When or if IE12 comes out, I really think they should rename it, and start over.
Very true, which is a shame as it's come so very far, take it from someone who had to learn to code sites when IE6 was the standard. I left it for Firefox then Opera and when I stopped caring about extensions because I didn't have time to fool with them, I came back to find that IE had been vastly improved.
People think it's crap because they are using old, outdated browsers that aren't up to snuff to protect them from modern security vulnerabilities. So when they say IE is allowing malicious crap onto their computers, it is true. Except it probably wouldn't have happened if they kept IE updated, they are using like IE8 in 2014. It is most often operator error rather than a problem with IE. It's like buying a car from 1974 and complaining that the gas mileage doesn't stack up to an economy car from 2014.
Though there was a period where I just didn't like IE, so I switched to Linux and Firefox instead. Then FF started to get slow and bloated too, so I switched to Opera. Opera is now rendering really slow (especially the facebook site) so I used Safari and Chrome for a while, but eventually tried IE and surprisingly, it is rendering many things faster and smoother than Chrome and Safari was for me. (My own websites included). So now I've come full circle and am back on IE11. Coupled with the built-in Windows 8 defender, viruses, worms, and trojans are a distant memory and I don't even worry or think about them any more, much like how I felt when I was on Linux for most of the last 10 years.
People, update your IE!!! It'll only make life better.
IE's good, it's only the non tech-savvy people that just talk crap about it. Leave it to them.
I just want it to be good on WP.
No, a lot of my tech savvy friends make fun of IE too.
In that case they're not tech-savvy enough.Sure, I slip a joke sometimes also, but if you say that and actually mean it, you have to be really uninformed. Which mostly is the case because nobody even tries to give IE a chance, they are running XP and of course they can't get the best of it.
A large number of the tech crowd toss needless hate toward IE. Most of them haven't bothered to take a look a recent version of IE. I used to use Firefox all the time instead. Then, like someone else mentioned, it became a bloated pig. Sure, having access to all those add-ons is great, but they add to the bloat, and over time it gets tiring getting them on every system I use. IE is just plain easier.
My one and only requirement for that would be a complete removal of active-X. If they did that I would support a name change. If not, I wouldn't. Active-X is the one part of IE11 leftover that I hate more than anything else. As a developer I find the HTML5 support in IE11 is decent and acceptable. Yes it might be behind firefox and chrome, but its good enough especially if they can try to keep up with the anual new version policy they've had since IE9.
IE11 is terrific on WP8.1 and on desktop, what are you talking about ?
And it also has the lowest HTML5 score. Every single IE has lost to its competitors. It's sad.
Thing is, on what points does it have the lowest HTML score? I'm not talking rendering sites or anything like that but is there specific coding that is standard and used often that it has trouble with? I tend to only have problems when browsing sites built specifically around Webkit or Google owned sites like Gmail. It doesn't matter because, as you said, it's old therefore is cool to hate it but I wish people hating it would give more specifics besides extension support or "lol IE."
HTML5 scores are only one metric. An important one, but there are other things to consider. The vast majority of the web is not even using HTML5 yet. Also, HTML5 is not even finalized. There are many parts of the standard that are still being modified. Supporting those parts of HTML5 is basically supporting a non-standard which could be considered quite irresponsible. At a certain point those HTML5 test results are kind of a gimick considering that not all of those features are official yet.
I wish I knew more about how the score comes to be. I put down web design as a profession due to having small children to care for now so I admit to being rusty on some of the newer bits in HTML. However, I'm not so out of the loop that I don't find scoring recent browsers on it a bit odd since, as you said, HTML 5 isn't finalized at all.
The scores I have seen are based on testing each of the hundreds of little features of HTML5 and awarding a point for each supported feature/subfeature. Many of them are trivial to implement and unlikely to the used. I think the scores are intended to be used to gauge progress towards the future HTML5 standards, but people think that it's a good representation of how well a browser works on websites today.
I believe that MS has actually stated that they were only implementing the features of HTML5 that had been made official because in the past they have been critisized for supporting/promoting non-standard HTML code. Ironically, now that they are sticking to standards they get critisism for "being behind" while Google, Firefox, and Safari get praise for being "cutting edge" because they are racing each other to support non-standardized features of HTML5 as well as WebKit.
Yeah, seems to me that part of the reason IE6 was so bad was for the reasons you stated. I've pretty much resolved to stay on IE with the occasional use of Firefox for certain sites because I don't like where Webkit browsers are going. It's like they learned nothing from Microsoft's past mistakes. It's kind of the same problem I have with Android. It's powerful but has certain problems the way Windows Mobile used to.
HTML5 probably will never be finalized. They've changed their method from having a single document with rare updates to making it modulized. The modules get updated and finalized a lot more quickly. Many HTML5 features are already considered final. I find the easiest way to determine this the website www.caniuse.com. It lists everything as "Recomendation" for things that are done. Personally I consider "Candidate Recomendation" to be pretty much finalized as well.
As a developer I can vouch for the fact that IE11 does everything I need it to that the others do as well. As a developer the lack of support for HTML5 input types in both IE and firefox drives me nuts. Other than that, I'm actually quite happy with HTML5 support on all browsers including IE11.
In W8+ IE makes more sense that anything else since mist have really crappy touch integration, especially Chrome.
I'm surprised that its not dead already
Old IE versions for 8.1? That version of Windows came with only version 11. Maybe that meant for Win 8, which has version 10.
+1520
IE 9 and 10 can still run on windows 8.1
Yes, but windows 8.1 automatically updated all IE's to IE11, so why would anyone downgrade? I think it is Windows 8.0, as that's IE10.
No, Internet Explorer 11 is the only available version of Internet Explorer on Windows 8.1.
No they can not.
Thank god, I'm sick of supporting them.
Downloading updates for my CV UK non-PFD wp 8.0 lumia 1020, not sure it is Cyan, installing the second update now.
I think you have to tell them here bro
http://forums.wpcentral.com/windows-phone-8-1/293096-track-wp8-1-lumia-c...
Please DO NOT get out of the topic
Thanks
Thank you for the link.
Welcome bro ;)
Get. The. Foxtrot. Off. And learn to read.
I am so sorry, I was just so excited.
Hey, be nice...
XP is seriously dead Finally
And why do you hate XP that much?
When did he say that he hates XP?? He only retold the status of XP as IE was the only updating application that was left in XP!!
Hmmmmm, thanks for the info
Sorry for miss understanding
No problem bro no hard feelings
Yeah..No feelings broda!!
I don't hate, but sure don't like XP. I hope I soon will stop swing this name as the is deserves to be in a museum. It messes with backward compatibility since MSFT have there bibel and backwards compability. Finaly we can cut of the bad appendix and look forward. The day Vista dies Windows have a perfect world ahead of it self.
Yeah forgot Vista. Don't remember how I put up with it
XP is a piece of junk from the past.
It wasn't a 'piece of junk' when it was released. You seem to be comparing a 13 year old operating system to modern equivalents which is somewhat unfair.
XP was brilliant in its day, but its now a rellic from a time gone past ages ago.
It deserves its place in the Microsoft walk of fame just beside Windows 3.11 and Windows 95.
It's time to let it go...
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Don't hate it. Just outdated
I HATE rusty old cars. They were perfectly fine when they were new, but XP is that rusty old car. The problem is that it puts out a huge plume of toxic oil burning polution that newer cars don't. My reaction to dealing with a computer running XP is the same as a car like that.
Makes sense.
Unless China throws a hissy fit for this, too.