Microsoft’s Internet Explorer lost its charm soon after Mozilla Firefox and later, Google Chrome were introduced. However, there are still few organizations that rely on the search engine, and now Microsoft is literally asking them to stop using it and move on.
In a recent blog post, Chris Jackson, a cybersecurity expert in Microsoft’s Windows division, notified people of the ‘perils of using Internet Explorer’ (IE) as their default browser.
Microsoft killed off the IE brand around four years ago, opting for Edge as its modern browser for Windows 10. Though IE lived on for Windows and business compatibility, Microsoft doesn’t support it with new web standards. Plenty of businesses still use IE since the outdated browser supports legacy web apps that haven’t been modernized.
“Internet Explorer is a compatibility solution. We’re not supporting new web standards for it and, while many sites work fine, developers by and large just aren’t testing for Internet Explorer these days. They’re testing on modern browsers,” wrote Jackson.
Microsoft executive tells Mozilla to give up and move on with Chrome
Jackson mentioned that continuing to use IE is racking up firm a ton of ‘technical debt’. By continuing to use it, organizations are creating additional costs down the line by choosing the easiest, most convenient solution instead of approaching what’s best for the long term.
Jackson explained that with ‘tech debt by default’ approach and choosing the easiest possible route since IE6, goes back to making a new webpage today and end up using a 1999 implementation of web standards by default.
Moreover, Microsoft has tried to limit the technical debt built up when using IE, including creating an Enterprise Mode for the browser in 2014. The mode allows websites render as they would in previous versions of IE to avoid compatibility issues with old web apps. Yet, the best way to ensure not to fall behind is by switching to a modern browser, as per Engadget.
“If we continued our previous approach, you would end up in a scenario where, by optimizing for the things you have, you end up not being able to use new apps as they come out,” Jackson added. “As new apps are coming out with greater frequency, what we want to help you do is avoid having to miss out on a progressively larger portion of the web!”