Internet Explorer is Gone!!!
By Adrian on January 07, 2016 in NewsPlease share this post if you enjoy it!
Joy To The World!
The day that many web developers have been waiting for is finally just around the corner. Microsoft is [stopping(https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/WindowsForBusiness/End-of-IE-support){: target=”_blank”} all support] for Internet Explorer 8, 9 and 10 next week (January 12th 2016). Naturally, this is causing some hype in the web dev world and many are heralding it as the golden moment we have been waiting for.
Is End of Life for IE the End of Our Woes?
Honestly, I highly doubt it. This is far from the cross browser compatibility solution that many have been saying. It is not that suddenly on the 12th of January everyone will suddenly upgrade to IE11 or Microsoft edge. Microsoft are simply stopping support for older browsers.
Fortunately, they will be displaying an “End of Life” notice to all users who are still using these old browsers in an attempt to get them to upgrade. This is actually a pretty huge cross section of overall IE users according to computerworld.
I have a sneaky feeling that many people who are still using some of these legacy browsers will simply stick with what they know and ignore these notifications that their browsers are out of date.
This is of course at their own risk as without continued support the already shaky security of these older IE browsers will now suddenly become a goldmine for malicious hackers.
What About Microsoft Edge?
As we all know, Microsoft have recently totally moved passed the Internet Explorer lineage, which obviously indicated that the end was nigh for that line of browsers. However, Edge is only supported on Windows 10 – the “free” upgrade for all windows users.
Many people have opted not to take this upgrade (although, their efforts may be to no avail in the near future, with rumours that MS will force upgrades). This of course means they cannot run Edge at all.
For these people, still running Win 7 or 8 (or god forbid, Vista!) they will have to be running some version of Internet Explorer.
We Are Stuck Between A Rock and an Internet Explorer.
Internet Explorer isn’t going anywhere. It is here for the long haul. Whether it is because of corporate environments, laziness or simply pure ignorance, people who are currently using IE will continue to do so.
Admittedly, the notifications of end of life for Internet Explorer may make some people upgrade to IE11, I don’t think it will make a huge dent in the overall usage. Not for a few years anyway.
Business Continues as Normal?
I think so. As exciting as the end of life news for internet explorer sounds, it actually changes nothing at all. Especially if you are doing web dev work in a corporate environment. We all know how stubborn those environments can be when it comes to upgrading software – especially browsers.
As far as the typical web developer goes, we will all still have to continue supporting these legacy browsers if our target demographic still falls into the section of people who use older IE browsers.
Until next time, take a look at some of the tutorials or projects
Stay hungry and keep coding,
Adrian
