Internet Explorer’s legacy on modern Windows systems is gradually approaching its conclusion. Microsoft has recently informed IT administrators that the Internet Explorer mode within its Edge browser will remain supported until at least the end of 2029. This mode serves as the final bastion for running IE’s rendering engine on current Windows versions, a crucial feature for organizations still reliant on IE-specific applications.
This announcement, detailed in a notice posted in the Microsoft 365 admin center, emphasizes the importance of planning migrations well in advance. As highlighted by gHacks Tech News, Microsoft is committed to providing a minimum of one year’s notice before any end-of-support date takes effect. This proactive approach aims to give organizations ample time to either rebuild or replace their internal software, a process that can often span several years.
Understanding IE Mode
To provide some context, IE mode is a compatibility feature embedded within the Edge browser. While Edge operates on Google’s open-source Chromium engine, IE mode allows it to render pages using Trident, the legacy engine that powered Internet Explorer 11. Microsoft initially signaled the eventual retirement of this mode back in 2021, indicating a long-term strategy to phase out reliance on Internet Explorer.
For organizations that do not depend on IE, no immediate action is required. However, for those still utilizing IE mode, Microsoft advises identifying dependencies on this feature and taking steps to update or replace them accordingly. This guidance is part of a broader initiative to transition users away from Internet Explorer, which officially retired its standalone browser in June 2022, marking the end of an era that began 26 years prior.
At the time of its retirement, Internet Explorer had dwindled to holding less than 1 percent of the browser market share, according to StatCounter data. Microsoft began redirecting users attempting to access IE toward Edge, a move that reflected the changing landscape of web browsing and user preferences.
