from Hacker News

Internet Explorer 11 has retired and is officially out of support

by alexobenauer on 6/15/22, 2:33 PM with 206 comments

by wolframhempel on 6/15/22, 2:41 PM
I started my career 2008 building real estate and stock news websites. Back then, sooooo much of my days were spent making things "IE compatible" using techniques like:
- creating sprite sheets of transparent png corners and sides that one could arrange in a table around an element to create drop-shadows and rounded corners
- putting single pixel, transparent gifs at the end of floated containers because clearfix used a "before" CSS selector that earlier IEs didn't know about.
- writing CSS rules like -ms-filter: "progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.Alpha(Opacity=75)"; to make something semi-transparent...
And so much more. Back then, we were certain we'd open a bottle of champagne once IE is not a requirement anymore.
Today, fortunately, I have a different Job and Microsoft makes different browsers. But looking back, I wouldn't have believed this day to arrive.
by jrochkind1 on 6/15/22, 4:05 PM
MOSTLY.
> Windows releases where Internet Explorer will still be available after June 15, 2022, include Windows 7 ESU, Windows 8.1, and all versions of Windows 10 LTSC client, IoT, and Server.
> "The Internet Explorer (IE) 11 desktop application will end support for Windows 10 semi-annual channel starting June 15, 2022," Microsoft says on the IE11 lifecycle page.
> As Microsoft further explains, "for supported operating systems, Internet Explorer 11 will continue receiving security updates and technical support for the lifecycle of the Windows version on which it is installed."
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/microsoft/internet-exp...
I gotta say... MS is serious about long-term support commitments and backwards compat!
by pavlov on 6/15/22, 4:25 PM
There was a time in 1998-99 when Internet Explorer 4 / 5 was actually the best browser by far. Netscape 4 was unstable and had completely botched all the fancy new features: its implementation of CSS (brand new at the time) was so bad that even font sizes didn't work right, its homegrown "layers" API for JavaScript DOM access was awful, and many web developers were wishing they could somehow get away with only supporting IE.
25 years after the release of IE4, I'm just glad both of those browser codebases are now dead.
IE was really done in by Microsoft's "Longhorn" OS project. After Windows XP, Microsoft was planning a very ambitious update that would completely reset core APIs. File systems would be largely replaced by an OS-level database, and the Win32 GUI API would be replaced by an XML-based UI framework codenamed Avalon.
A new Avalon browser would ship with the OS, and thus IE + HTML would become legacy technologies as Microsoft confidently assumed most developers would flock to building their web apps in Avalon instead.
To Microsoft strategists, it seemed that they had succeeded in containing the web: Netscape was dead, Mozilla had almost no users, Apple was shipping their IE in Mac OS X, Google wasn't on Microsoft's radar, and the HTML standard process was stalled. So while a lot of content was being delivered as HTML4, there didn't seem to be any reason left for Microsoft to invest in IE — they'd already nailed the browser, owned the market, and would push Avalon as the next step.
Fortunately, Longhorn failed. Some parts of the project eventually shipped years late as Windows Vista. Avalon became WPF + XAML and still exists in Windows, but the dream of a XAML browser replacing IE was dead.
by philliphaydon on 6/15/22, 2:54 PM
First time I ever wanted to embed an image into a HN comment. This image is so fitting!
https://i.imgur.com/MgGvQHH.png
by tiborsaas on 6/15/22, 3:15 PM
If you have some time between two cocktails while celebrating, do your visitors a favour and add this meta tag to your <head>:
```
    <meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=edge,chrome=1">
```
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/openspecs/ie_standards/ms-i...
This will make IE very insisting to upgrade to Edge if possible.
by psim1 on 6/15/22, 3:29 PM
IE may have been problematic from a tech point of view, but I'll eulogize that IE was important in advancing the web. The OS-integrated browser meant that in 1995, users had a full Internet stack readily available on their home PCs -- the widespread launch of Web 1.0. Later, IE was the pioneer of XMLHttpRequest, the beginning of Web 2.0. For these, we can say thanks, Microsoft! (for everything else, see other comments)
by err4nt on 6/15/22, 2:50 PM
Being in web development since 2004, I both thought the day would never arrive, and would have arrived a lot sooner than 2022. Tech-wise, there were times when IE was advanced, often in non-standard ways, but it was innovative. There are other ways where it was a major thorn in the side of every web developer and required much extra attention and care. And yet, since about 2014 or 2015, the world of web standards had caught up to and surpassed IE in every area. So here's to a surprisingly bittersweet farewell
by intrasight on 6/15/22, 3:56 PM
I started doing web development back in Netscape - adding graphics extensions. I think it was 1995.
But I really dug into SPA/AJAX web apps in 2000 - building enterprise stuff. They were all "IE6 apps". IE6 was basically my X-windows. No other browsers were supported, and there as no pushback from customers back then. Only one of those apps made the transition to IE11.
Last year I explained to my current client that our big enterprise reporting app had to move off IE11. And I was really surprised how much pushback on got on that.
by open-paren on 6/15/22, 2:54 PM
I argue that moving it “out of support” doesn't mean anything for what browsers you have to support. Users and businesses still using IE11 aren't exactly those that are on the top of their IT policy game, so I doubt they will be jumping when the browser is “no longer supported by Microsoft.”
by wonderbore on 6/15/22, 3:51 PM
Is this Groundhog Day? How many more times will IE be declared dead? Official support is irrelevant if the browser is still stubbornly used by users. Most websites have moved on more than 5 years ago.
This news is meaningless. This confirms it:
> For supported operating systems, Internet Explorer 11 will continue receiving security updates and technical support for the lifecycle of the Windows version on which it is installed.
From https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/faq/internet-expl...
by timeimp on 6/15/22, 2:39 PM
Does anyone work in an “enterprise” environment who have been dreading this day?
Any apps / mainframes / industrials systems that needs IE to run?
by layer8 on 6/15/22, 3:03 PM
I’ve still been using IE11 up to now by default (for the websites it still renders adequately, with Firefox as a fallback — there’s a “Open current page in Firefox” add-in), for the following reasons:
- crisper and higher-contrast font rendering on low-DPI monitors
- Ctrl+N/Ctrl+K clone the current tab into a new window/tab including its history, letting you “fork” the tab and effectively navigate a history tree. Edit: And, maybe more importantly, opening a link in new window/tab also clones the history.
- generally good keyboard usage, e.g. for the history tab (you can for example always blindly hit Ctrl+H, Home, Enter to go to the last visited page, something which is more fiddly in other browsers)
- larger viewport height than possible on Chrome/Firefox/Edge (after hiding the toolbar and status bar, configuring tabs to be on the address bar, etc.)
- allows yellow search highlighting (which Firefox doesn’t on light backgrounds)
by user_7832 on 6/15/22, 4:11 PM
I posted this as a reply to a comment here but I felt it would be better to ask as a separate comment -
Does anyone (especially from MS) know why later versions of IE and pre-chromium Edge were so good and snappy with scrolling? The level of accuracy and speed was incredible (on touchpads at least) - it was probably the last time I had an interaction on a computer that made me go "wow".
by lemoncookiechip on 6/15/22, 2:55 PM
From a previous thread (lost link): "For supported operating systems, Internet Explorer 11 will continue receiving security updates and technical support for the lifecycle of the Windows version on which it is installed."
The King is dead, long live the King.
by night-rider on 6/15/22, 2:38 PM
As the old meme goes: Internet Explorer was the first step to downloading Chrome or Firefox on a new computer.
by maxpert on 6/15/22, 3:35 PM
// One last time remembering IE6
var request = new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP");
by logifail on 6/15/22, 2:51 PM
Q: What about the Internet Explorer versions that shipped in the Windows 10 LTSC[0], most (all?) of which are very much still "in support"[1]?
[0] https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/whats-new/ltsc/ [1] https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/faq/windows#what-...
by konfusinomicon on 6/15/22, 2:45 PM
im speculating that in a wild twist of events, MS announces the revival of Netscape Navigator, just to keep all the web developers on their toes and make sure they get enough practice working with cross browser compatability
by xutopia on 6/15/22, 3:06 PM
So much effort from Microsoft to take over the web. They spent so much money and time on hurting all other browsers and web standards and for what?
by mwcampbell on 6/15/22, 2:57 PM
Does anyone know when the forced redirect from IE to Edge actually lands, particularly in Windows 10? In particular, does anyone know when it will affect users that open IE by entering "iexplore URL" in the Run dialog? Is anyone seeing this behavior yet? I'm not.
by newbieuser on 6/15/22, 9:13 PM
Would the web have been a different place if IE had gone a different way instead of its current bullshit? I mean, I wonder what effect this would have on the current state of the web if it complied with general standards.
by ChrisArchitect on 6/15/22, 7:36 PM
Seeing a timeline animation of browser share made me both nostalgic about the browser wars days and how IE took over after (and for a time was the best), and also sad about what happened to Firefox, which was so exciting in those early days becoming very much a standard but falling to the wayside as Chrome snuck up. It's just sad where it ended up today as an also ran for some/holdout for others (I still insist my parents use it etc) with difficult marketing and who knows what level of development behind the scenes. Sigh.
by aquova on 6/15/22, 4:04 PM
Slightly tangential, but does this mean that Wine prefixes will no longer need to include Internet Explorer? If you ever go digging through a Wine prefix's Program Files, there are a handful of default Windows applications, including IE and Windows Media Player. I've never been really sure why my Steam library is filled with a dozen copies of IE, but I'm curious if they will still be added.
by philliphaydon on 6/15/22, 2:36 PM
Celebrate good times!
by charles_f on 6/15/22, 3:05 PM
I didn't realize that it was still alive, and that some devs were still maintaining it. I am wondering if there were still apps out there in the corp world that would only work with ie11, even if just for blocking other agents.
by kazinator on 6/15/22, 3:53 PM
I found IE11 pretty useful recently.
I made to the web UI of a firmware device, and needed to check whether it will work with old browsers as far back as IE9.
Because IE11 has an emulation mode, I didn't have to install IE9.
Thank you, IE11!
:)
by ricardobayes on 6/15/22, 2:48 PM
A red letter day for us web devs. A collective sigh of relief.
by caycep on 6/15/22, 6:47 PM
Except it's still required to run HIPAA-sensitive EHR's like Allscripts. facepalm
(note, they say they are compatible with Edge etc. But sadly they are really not)
by 2000UltraDeluxe on 6/16/22, 7:40 AM
I thought the Xbox 360 version of IE11 was supported until the Xbox 360 goes EOL? Not that it's actually usable on today's web or anything...
by sbf501 on 6/15/22, 3:04 PM
Many countries that access my company site still use some version of IE (France and Japan come to mind). But they are still on Win7 too.
by major505 on 6/15/22, 8:25 PM
Nice. Now I only have to support it for 11 more years because my stubborn clients will continue to use explorer in windows 7.
by Agamus on 6/15/22, 5:51 PM
I am eternally grateful to IE for shoving me early and squarely to the Linux/FOSS side.
Thank you, IE - and good riddance!
by 101008 on 6/15/22, 6:11 PM
I'd take any day the old internet with IE than our current internet with current browsers.
by hidden-spyder on 6/15/22, 5:43 PM
Why is IE still in use and what's stopping people from switching over to something new?
by kasajian on 6/15/22, 5:26 PM
That's awesome. But what happens if you double-click on an .hta file?
by throwaway71271 on 6/15/22, 2:50 PM
sad day, the day that we have one less web browser
only webkit is left
the king is dead, long live the king.
by pmarreck on 6/15/22, 4:47 PM
RIP, and good riddance
by Spooky23 on 6/15/22, 6:00 PM
…on Windows 10. It’s still a thing on server.
by bombcar on 6/15/22, 2:40 PM
Internet Explorer was first released on August 16, 1995 - couldn't they have kept support for two more months!
by upupandup on 6/15/22, 2:44 PM
Huzzah! The tyrant is no more!
by Mattmrmatt on 6/15/22, 4:21 PM
Bye bye IE and thank you!
by brainyz on 6/15/22, 2:37 PM
RIH
by geniium on 6/15/22, 4:25 PM
kthxbye
by DrBazza on 6/15/22, 2:40 PM
Having lived through the MS/IE6 era of being the monopoly web browser, and effectively determined and held back web standards for a long time, it's bittersweet that we now have Google/Chrome era.
At least it's not hard wired into the OS and we're not going through another era of mega-corp hard wiring browsers into their OSes any more.
Oh wait.
by neatze on 6/15/22, 2:47 PM
Windows Server should be retired next, arguably, if MS would focus on making UI and Dev tools for Linux instead of Windows and nothing else, it will be better off.