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Microsoft reveals intentions to stop supporting Internet Explorer next August

Microsoft has recently announced that will no longer be supporting Internet Explorer 11 across its 365 apps and services from next August. 

From August 17th 2021 onwards, the browser will no longer be supported on 365 applications such as OneDrive, Outlook and others. However, if you are currently using IE 11 on the Microsoft Teams web app, the deadline is even closer as it will no longer be supported from November 30th this year. 

So what does this mean for your business? 

This means that for all users still utilising Internet Explorer 11 in their businesses to connect to Microsoft 365 apps will see a significant decline in the overall performance towards the end of 2021 with a high chance of some features not functioning correctly at all.  

This latest announcement also includes enterprise users which Microsoft hopes to win over by providing them with the new & improved IE legacy mode contained within the Edge browser which will make it easier for them to access old sites that were built specifically for Internet Explorer browsers. 

The plans announced by Microsoft for Internet Explorer 11 come as no surprise as Microsoft has been looking to rein in its support for the dated web browser for many years. Given they launched their new Edge browser back in 2015, it was only a matter of time before they started to archive their older Internet Explorer browsers.  Furthermore, Microsoft has gone as far as rebranding Internet Explorer as a “compatibility solution” more so than a browser to try and persuade businesses to stop using it and move to Edge. 

This is exactly what Microsoft is hoping will happen, despite it being widely reported that users are looking for alternative ways to uninstall Edge which according to a Microsoft FAQ is not possible. 

"The new version of Microsoft Edge gives users full control over importing personal data from the legacy version of Microsoft Edge," the FAQ declares. "The new version of Microsoft Edge is included in a Windows system update, so the option to uninstall it or use the legacy version of Microsoft Edge will no longer be available." 

Next Steps? 

If you are still using Internet Explorer across your business and are looking for some tailored IT consultancy or dedicated IT support to understand the best way to make the transition to Microsoft Edge then please get in touch with our team of IT experts today to discuss your specific needs. 

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