Microsoft has announced it's ending support for Internet Explorer 11 across its 365 apps and services in 2021.
On 17 August 2021, the browser will no longer be supported on OneDrive, Outlook and more. There is less time for Internet Explorer 11 on the Microsoft Teams web app, which will lose support on 30 November this year.
This means that anyone using IE 11 to connect to Microsoft 365 apps will see a serious drop in performance if still using the browser in the latter months of 2021, and some features may stop working entirely.
This includes enterprise users, which the firm hopes to appease with the new Internet Explorer legacy mode in the Chromium-based Microsoft Edge browser, which will allow businesses to access old sites that were specifically built for Internet Explorer.
The tech giant has been scaling back its support for the ageing web browser for a number of years. The Edge browser was first unveiled in 2015, under the codename 'Project Spartan', which many believe is the beginning of the end for the Internet Explorer brand. Microsoft now labels the latter as a "compatibility solution" rather than a browser, with the aim of discouraging businesses from using it.
While Microsoft is hoping users will start using its Edge browser, a number of users have been searching for ways to uninstall it. However, that isn't possible, according to a Microsoft FAQ.
"The new version of Microsoft Edge gives users full control over importing personal data from the legacy version of Microsoft Edge," the FAQ reads. "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."
