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Microsoft is forcibly removing internet explorer from PCs
- daviddever23box 4y agoI 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.)
- mr_toad 4y agoI’ve never seen an app that only works in Safari.
- Dwedit 4y agoIf "mshtml.dll" is still there, and you can still instantiate instances of it, then MSIE is still there.
- adzm 4y agoThankfully; there are entire (completely-local) applications designed around MSHTML.
- meltyness 4y agoInvoke-WebRequest still depends on some of the internals too probably, but who knows?
- jchw 4y agoThat was finally fixed, apparently in PowerShell 6.0, and now -UseBasicParsing is just a noop. Kinda crazy that it ever did this by default, especially considering PowerShell used to alias curl to Invoke-Webrequest, which could lead to surprise JavaScript execution. Definitely one of the worst gotchas in Windows PowerShell.
- djxfade 4y agoGood
- PreInternet01 4y agoMore 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. 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.
- Asmod4n 4y ago75% of PCs I had the pleasure today to „patch“ didn’t have IE Mode at all in edge, but still removed IE. Fun times.
- jonathantf2 4y agoIE mode has been around for ages, either push it through MDM or GPO.
- Asmod4n 4y agoWindows home edition, we don’t control those PCs, the clients buy them themselves.
- SQueeeeeL 4y agoIf people have genuine use cases (or even simply have a preferred remembered experience experience for how something complicated works like an elderly person) I see no reason why they "should" upgrade, and why instead we shouldn't at least try to provide those users a mediocre amount of support. For the average Grandma who just wants to use Hotmail and Facebook, learning Edge is actually a monumental undertaking
- PreInternet01 4y agoA genuine use case for IE11 on Windows Server platforms, which is what I was talking about, would mostly be 'masochism and a penchant for malware'. If your average grandparent runs Windows Server, learning a new browser every now and then would be the least of their problems, IMHO.
- bobjordan 4y agoThis 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.
- splitstud 4y agoThe warnings started how long ago? The compatability mode is available and works.
- jamal-kumar 4y agoThat's really on your bank for insisting on using technology which has been sunset for many many years though. I would contact them and tell them you're considering switching. If they're anything like the banks in North America they'll be freaking out trying to give you deals to stay. They did this for me when I told them that I would switch over trying to force SMS-based 2fa on me. I'm really not sure about the economic situation in China right now but since they hiked the interest rates banks have been extremely competitive in terms of signup offers here in the past few months. Might be worth considering!
- Gigachad 4y agoYeah, MS have a 10 year window to migrate. If you found yourself at the end of 10 years still not migrated, then you’ll only do it when it breaks.
- massysett 4y agoI'm at a US government agency and the system that processes our time and attendance still does not work with Chrome or Firefox - I think it's some kind of security certificate issue? So they tell us to use Edge to fill our our time and attendance. I click some link from our internal home page and it loads up the page in "Internet Explorer Mode," complete with the blue "e" in the address bar.
- athorax 4y agoTake edge with it, please and thank you
- skc 4y agoWhat's wrong with Edge. Been pleasantly surprised by it myself.
- athorax 4y agoGlad it is working out for you! I already have a browser of choice and would prefer my OS not make those decisions for me.
- lockhouse 4y agoA web browser is expected and included in every modern desktop and mobile OS I can think of. What is different about Safari on Apple OSes, Chrome on Android and Chromebooks, or Firefox on Linux distros? At least on Windows it is trivially easy to use a different browser and set it as the default.
- tsimionescu 4y ago> and set it as the default. For a while...
- aprilnya 4y agoThe difference is that Microsoft doesn’t just give you Edge as the default, they actively try to get you to switch to Edge if you’re using something else, with random notifications, pop-ups in Settings, making it harder to switch to other browsers, making browser links opened by the OS (i.e. search bar, help) open in Edge, etc…
- bakugo 4y ago> At least on Windows it is trivially easy to use a different browser and set it as the default. No, it's not. On 11 at least, any link that is part of the OS (or at least modern parts of it) will still forcibly open Edge, including anything you search in the start menu. It's not possible to change this without third party software.
- candiddevmike 4y agoNetscape finally wins?
- sys32768 4y agoAre they even removing it from Windows 7 and other unsupported operating systems?
- teroszsegv 4y agoNope. In fact I'm still using IE11 on a very old (circa 2003) P4 box with only 2gb ram and win7, mind you I only use it on a very specific websites including HN, pinboard, teddit, invidious, nitter, wikiless and a few others, I've added these filter lists https://filterlists.com/tpl.html https://filterlists.com/tpl.html plus Spywareblaster.
- pantulis 4y agoAre running on that venerable box for any particular reason?
- xbar 4y agoIf I could forcibly remove Internet Explorer from Your PC, I would have already done so. You're welcome.
- Idiot_in_Vain 4y agoMicro$oft seems to think that my PC is their PC and they can do whatever they like with it, without even asking.
- jurimasa 4y agoIt is. And they are.
- andai 4y agoIf you can't open it, you don't own it. (Optional: "It owns you" ;)
- shadowgovt 4y agoIt's complicated. They'd really prefer not to be in that position, but they learned the (extremely) hard way in the early days of the Internet that when you have the largest OS install-base (And MS still has like 29%), you have some obligation to the global community to police it. Because Lord knows individual users don't pull upgrades in fast enough voluntarily, and an exploit shared by 29% of computers can be easily weaponized online. The Internet would be much, much worse if not for the steady drumbeat of OS vendors forcing users to patch vulnerabilities via upgrade pursuasion. (At least until someone finishes development on that vulnerability-free OS. What did they call it? NonexOStant?)
- bakugo 4y ago> They'd really prefer not to be in that position What makes you say this? If I was MS I'd be perfectly happy to effectively own most computers on earth and be able to do anything I want with them.
- shadowgovt 4y agoThey'd really prefer not to be in the position of force-pushing updates because it's a huge pain in the ass to build and maintain the infrastructure to allow it and it generates mostly ill-will and negative press for them (because every user sees the updates, but only a handful of users get their online sites slaughtered by a low-orbit ion cannon made out of compromised Windows nodes). It is, however, pretty much the price of doing business when the business is "Being a dominant operating system vendor." The other ones breathing that rarified air are Android and iOS, and they're about as strict as Windows regarding updates (with the exception of long-tail Android open source builds that are maintained by whatever vendor cobbled something together, which the core project only has indirect influence over in terms of minimizing ability to exploit it as a common-codebase threat vector).
- barbariangrunge 4y agoAnd forcibly adding edge, edge shortcuts, prompts to use edge, and warnings against using Firefox
- voytec 4y ago> Microsoft has fully moved on to its Edge browser. (While nearly everyone else has moved on to Google Chrome.) Not a major difference - Edge is based on Chromium.
- 2OEH8eoCRo0 4y agoYou shouldn't be using Internet Explorer at this point but Microsoft shouldn't be breaking your workflow either.
- techwiz137 4y agoThe problem is, that certain old software like Volvo's VIDA needs IE. And while Edge's IE Tab works it's much much slower in loading.
- quickthrowman 4y agoThat sounds like a problem for Geely, not Microsoft.
- 2OEH8eoCRo0 4y agoMicrosoft makes it their problem by rug pulling IE
- judge2020 4y agoNo, they made it their problem by promising both users and vendors they'd do the dirty work of keeping it compatible. As shown here[0], removing the OS "bloat" that keeps old apps compatible on newer Windows 11 versions vastly decreases resource usage and improves software responsiveness. 0: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34654649 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34654649
- Gigachad 4y agoA 10 year rug pull. It wasn’t exactly shocking news.
- WWLink 4y agoIt sounds like a Microsoft problem for me. A "it's my computer, don't fuck around with the stuff on it" kinda problem. Damn software makers getting uppity about ownership after they've distributed their shit.
- bluelightning2k 4y ago"The only way to destroy this evil is from within" - our operative setting off on this undercover mission 15 years ago
- Maursault 4y agoIn 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?
- tester756 4y agoWell, 22 years of refactor make things possible ;)
- justinclift 4y agoOr they were just lying, which they seem to do a lot of.
- jaywalk 4y agoUhhh, how about the fact that it's taken 20+ years and the development of an entirely new browser to finally begin the extraction of IE from the OS?
- watermelon0 4y agoGoing forward, Microsoft Edge WebView2 will probably be inherent component of Windows, so they will just replace one browser for another. For the time being, I assume EdgeHTML is still present, since I assume this is used for the compatibility mode in Edge (and for legacy WebViews).
- jeroenhd 4y agoWindows Explorer was based on IE. It's quite obvious how tight the integration was. And it was a good idea, to be honest. They've done plenty of anticompetitive shit, but the IE integration into Windows has only ever improved Windows.
- awill 4y agoWithout reading the article, they're obviously doing this to force Edge on people. Also, without reading the article, I wish they'd done this years ago. Long before Edge :).
- MarkusWandel 4y agoThey'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.
- unxdfa 4y agoGood. I hope that infernal turd is buried. It has been the number one cost centre for our front end stuff for the last decade and a half.
- forinti 4y agoOracle Forms still works in Edge in IE11 compatibility mode. This surprised me, but I can't decide if pleasantly or not.
- wkat4242 4y agoNothing about Oracle is pleasant so for me it would be an easy decision :)
- garaetjjte 4y agoWeirdest thing is, they are not "removing" it. It opens normally for a fraction of second and then something closes it and opens Edge instead.
- tech234a 4y agoIt'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. Other options include, but are not limited to: * 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 * running Internet Explorer without add-ons: iexplore.exe -extoff, or * opening Internet Options, go to Programs tab, click "Manage add-ons", then clicking "Learn more about toolbars and extensions" I've also seen other ways of launching IE using VBA or other legacy features. Some of these methods also work on Windows 11. [0]: 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 https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/internet-explorer/ie11-dep..., CLSID: {1FD49718-1D00-4B19-AF5F-070AF6D5D54C} [1]: https://www.ghacks.net/2020/10/23/internet-explorer-users-will-be-redirected-to-microsoft-edge-if-incompatible-sites-are-opened/#comment-4476174 https://www.ghacks.net/2020/10/23/internet-explorer-users-wi... (the key type is String)
- wkat4242 4y ago20 years too late :') But the problem is the old webview crap based on IE is still embedded in the system everywhere. Only yesterday I got a popup from something with the "image missing" icon that clearly originates in IE.
- tarotuser 4y agoWired should know better. Microsoft is not removing IE from 'personal computers'. MD is removing from machines running Windows. None of my Linux machines are affected, and damn straight are personal machines. 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.
- silverwasthere 4y agoPc means wintel my good dude. Actual personal computers are not seen as "a computer" to lusers. They are workstations. Or devices. But PC (like it was printed on oh so many software boxes) means windows+intel(or unremarkably compatible).
- layer8 4y agoThe article didn’t say “from all PCs”. They also don’t remove it from Windows 7 PCs that don’t have Edge installed, for example.
- h4ch1 4y agoI 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.
- skilled 4y agoWired doing some clickbait meme here, but I heard about the news last week. 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.
- Karawebnetwork 4y agoWorking in the B2B world, I can tell you that unfortunately many buyers are still running on archaic systems. Many projects still require support for these old browsers. In the B2C sector, there are so many users that the few who don't upgrade are just a tiny afterthought. In the B2B sector, where a single company not upgrading can mean that more than half of your customers can't use your website, it's a whole other issue.
- Yaa101 4y agoA lot of business intranet software still runs on IE, especially in the far east.
- taspeotis 4y agoAlso discussed on Reddit https://www.reddit.com/r/ShittySysadmin/comments/114s0h0/help_me_revert_a_meteor_strike_warned_over_a_year/ https://www.reddit.com/r/ShittySysadmin/comments/114s0h0/hel...
- collaborative 4y agoWill BrowserComponent in .NET still work? Asking for a friend
- keyle 4y agoNow that's the dystopian headline I want a print of on my wall. So Long!
- alwaysanon 4y agoThis 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. 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!
- gramie 4y agoI 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. 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. 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. The people are winding up their business and retiring, so they really didn't want to buy and learn a new version of QB.
- Dwedit 4y agoAlready, 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.