End of support for Internet Explorer 11 in Microsoft 365 and old Edge in Windows 10 from 2021

[German]Microsoft has just announced the end of support for the two browsers Internet Explorer 11 and the old (legacy) Edge for the year 2021. This concerns the support of IE 11 under Microsoft 365 (e.g. teams as of the end of November 2020) and the support for the old Edge browser under Windows 10 (March 2021).

I became aware of this announcement by Microsoft in the techcommunity via the following tweet by Peer Larson.  

Hier einige Hinweise zu den sich ergebenden Änderungen, die Microsoft am 17. August 2017 angekündigt hat und in dieser Grafik zusammenfasst.

EOL für IE11 und Edge
(EOL for IE11 and Edge, Source: Microsoft)

Microsoft writes: Microsoft 365 applications and services will no longer support Internet Explorer 11 (IE 11) this time next year, and announces the following dates.

  • Starting November 30, 2020, the Microsoft Teams Web application will no longer support IE 11.
  • As of August 17, 2021, the remaining 365 Microsoft applications and services will no longer support IE 11.

This means that customers will no longer be able to connect to Microsoft 365 applications and services in IE 11 after the dates listed above. Microsoft indicates that this change will be difficult for some customers. However, Redmond intends to limit Microsoft 365 to the new chromium Microsoft Edge. The new Edge is expected to better support users of toolsets such as Outlook, Teams, SharePoint and others.

But: The Internet Explorer 11 will stay

Microsoft makes it clear, however, that Internet Explorer 11 will not disappear so easily. Customers should no longer use Internet Explorer 11 for Microsoft 365 applications and services. But IE 11 will continue to function as a legacy application in its own right. Customers have made business-critical investments in legacy IE 11 applications that will continue to be supported by IE 11.

With the new Microsoft Edge and Internet Explorer mode in Edge, customers do not need to use two browsers, according to Microsoft. Administrators can configure the new Edge browser so that users can easily browse the Web within the new Microsoft Edge while accessing a legacy, business-critical IE 11 application on a different tab.

Microsoft Edge Legacy dies in Windows 10

In Windows 10, the chromium-based edge browser has been available since the beginning of 2020 and has been rolled out in waves since then. After Microsoft releases the new Microsoft Edge and most Windows 10 customers upgrade to the new browser, Redmond will end support for the Microsoft Edge Legacy Desktop Application on March 9, 2021. After March 9, 2021, the Microsoft Edge Legacy Desktop Application will no longer receive new security updates.

The above tweet expresses how pissed off customers in authorities and some companies are.

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7 Responses to End of support for Internet Explorer 11 in Microsoft 365 and old Edge in Windows 10 from 2021

  1. kleenex says:

    Afaik old EdgeHTML is the WebView engine that is used in UWP applications.

    https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-edge/hosting/webview

    Does anyone know if they plan to migrate to Chromium? If not, I don't think they can just stop supporting the old Edge…

  2. ATC says:

    If anyone knows, when IE is pulled/dead, what will happen to the components that can be used to render HTML in applications? Specifically ieframe.dll/ieframe.oca and mshtml.tlb?

    We don't develop software that runs on IE like most legacy stuff which is a lot of ActiveX running in IE, but we do use these to create most of the UI.

    I haven't found anything – but as MVP's, perhaps you have access to anyone that might know.

    • guenni says:

      I haven't access to someone that might know. From what I read and interpret: IE 11 components in Windows still receive security updates a while (I guess until 2023). Until then, the .dll, .oca an .tlb should be useable – but MS won't provide support, if a patch is causing issues.

  3. EP says:

    this announcement recently came out:

    https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/microsoft-365-blog/new-microsoft-edge-to-replace-microsoft-edge-legacy-with-april-s/ba-p/2114224

    the April 2021 updates for recent Win10 versions will remove legacy (old) Edge for good

  4. EP says:

    just recently announced from MS – support for IE11 on most Win10 versions (except LTSC) will end next year in June 15, 2022:

    https://blogs.windows.com/windowsexperience/2021/05/19/the-future-of-internet-explorer-on-windows-10-is-in-microsoft-edge/

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