More correct albeit less clickbaity headline: recent builds of Microsoft Edge will uninstall any remnants of Internet Explorer from your PC and replace them with compatibility shims, so most legacy apps should continue to work as-is.<p>On Windows Server platforms, where IE11 is still inexplicably the default experience even in the most recent 2022 editions, you can still enjoy its full functionality, until you explicitly install 'Edge for Business'. Which you should.
It's a good idea to move away from IE, but it's fairly easy to get around the block. When the Edge prompt comes up, roll over the Edge icon on the taskbar and use the X to close the prompt. Then, click on the IE icon to unminimize the IE window.<p>Other options include, but are not limited to:<p>* disabling the IE add-on that triggers the prompt (IEToEdgeBHO): you can disable it via group policy [0] or registry [1] and IE will function as normal, or<p>* running Internet Explorer without add-ons: iexplore.exe -extoff, or<p>* opening Internet Options, go to Programs tab, click "Manage add-ons", then clicking "Learn more about toolbars and extensions"<p>I've also seen other ways of launching IE using VBA or other legacy features. Some of these methods also work on Windows 11.<p>[0]: <a href="https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/internet-explorer/ie11-deploy-guide/enable-and-disable-add-ons-using-administrative-templates-and-group-policy#using-the-clsid-and-administrative-templates-to-manage-group-policy-objects" rel="nofollow">https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/internet-explorer/ie11-dep...</a>, CLSID: {1FD49718-1D00-4B19-AF5F-070AF6D5D54C}<p>[1]: <a href="https://www.ghacks.net/2020/10/23/internet-explorer-users-will-be-redirected-to-microsoft-edge-if-incompatible-sites-are-opened/#comment-4476174" rel="nofollow">https://www.ghacks.net/2020/10/23/internet-explorer-users-wi...</a> (the key type is String)
This is a serious problem for us in my business as our business banking software we are forced to use by our bank in mainland China still only works with IE. I spent an hour last night ultimately inputting shady commands into my registry, to try to force IE to open instead of being hijacked by edge. When an entire industry in a country refuses to upgrade what the hell? Of course I’m pissed the bank hadn’t upgraded but it’s infuriating that Microsoft breaks my processes without my permission.
I recently switched to Edge and have been mildly surprised, after turning off all telemetry, having sleeping tabs built-in, which actually work much better than Chrome's and Firefox's (also considering 3rd party extensions), and my browser RAM usage dropping to a "measly" 800MB with 100 tabs open and a non-noticeable delay when I switch to a sleeping tab, seems a much better alternative than using Chrome. Plus sidebar tabs are a huge plus.
20 years too late :')<p>But the problem is the old webview crap based on IE is <i>still</i> embedded in the system everywhere. Only yesterday I got a popup from something with the "image missing" icon that clearly originates in IE.
> Microsoft has fully moved on to its Edge browser. (While nearly everyone else has moved on to Google Chrome.)<p>Not a major difference - Edge is based on Chromium.
Weirdest thing is, they are not "removing" it. It opens normally for a fraction of second and then something closes it and opens Edge instead.
I have zero sympathy for those who, by designing an application solely for use with Internet Explorer, put their heads into the lion's mouth, expecting to get their face licked. (Same applies to Safari.)
I was just helping someone who had removed IE from Windows and then couldn't start QuickBooks (from 2016 or so, I think). Not even get to the main page.<p>My research showed that Intuit had known about this problem for at least 2-3 years, and told people that they would have a fix but never released one, so everyone seemed to end up having to install a new version of QuickBooks, usually with a subscription.<p>I found a hacky workaround: create a registry key that tells Windows where IE is located (even though it isn't). QuickBooks then starts up just fine, and as long as you don't use the sections that rely on IE (not sure which ones they are, maybe just documentation?), you can use the program just fine.<p>The people are winding up their business and retiring, so they really didn't want to buy and learn a new version of QB.
They'd better leave it alone on my obsolete Windows 7 laptop. Until recently, and quite possibly even now, there are cheap band-X IP cameras that can only be configured with an ActiveX plugin.
This feels like when a mining company has to remediate/recreclamate their mine(s) at the end of their useful life rather than leave them there to cause people problems in the future.<p>IE11 has long since needed to die and I am glad that MS is doing the right thing for the world and cleaning up the mess on its way out!
Also discussed on Reddit<p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/ShittySysadmin/comments/114s0h0/help_me_revert_a_meteor_strike_warned_over_a_year/" rel="nofollow">https://www.reddit.com/r/ShittySysadmin/comments/114s0h0/hel...</a>
Wired doing some clickbait meme here, but I heard about the news last week.<p>My question is, who the hell uses IE still...? And don't give me that one in a million guy stuck with it because he's running Windows 2k Server.
In 1998, Microsoft asserts that their browser was an inherent component of the operating system and could not be extracted. In 2020, Microsoft miraculously defies the impossible! What can't Microsoft do?
Already, there is the IE to Edge BHO which forcefully launches a different browser when you attempt to visit a website. You can still turn it off, and proceed to use MSIE.
Wired should know better.<p>Microsoft is not removing IE from 'personal computers'. MD is removing from machines running <i>Windows</i>.<p>None of my Linux machines are affected, and damn straight are personal machines.<p>Edit: for those of you who downvoted, I'm tired of having personal computers meaning only MS windows. There's those of us who are Mac users and Linux users both. By making "PC" as windows only is removing the rest of us.
Without reading the article, they're obviously doing this to force Edge on people.<p>Also, without reading the article, I wish they'd done this years ago. Long before Edge :).