Microsoft will stop supporting Internet Explorer 10 beginning January 2020, the company has confirmed. The latest announcement follows an earlier statement issued in 2016 when the Windows maker had said that it will no longer support IE10 to make way for Internet Explorer 11 and Microsoft Edge.
Since IE11 wasn't available for Windows Server 2012 and Windows Embedded 8 Standard, the company continued to offer updates for the browser running on these operating systems. However, that will change now as Microsoft is planning to offer IE11 to both these OSes later in the year. The latest push will finally free the world of IE10 but it does need some enterprise consumers to start installing IE11.
Beginning this spring, commercial consumers will be able to use the browser in test environments; the company is giving commercial customers until January 2020 to transition to IE11. "After this, we will not release any security or non-security updates, free or paid assisted support options, or online technical content changes for IE10," Microsoft said.
"To simplify deployment, you will be able to download IE11 via the Microsoft Update Catalog. We will also publish the IE11 upgrade through Windows Update and Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) for all versions of Windows Server 2012 and Windows Embedded 8 Standard later this year."
Microsoft believes that this step will also make it easier for consumers to upgrade to Windows 10. "Upgrading to the latest version of Internet Explorer will ease the migration path to Windows 10, Windows Server 2016 or 2019, or Windows 10 IoT, and unlock the next generation of technology and productivity," the company says. "It will also allow you to reduce the number of Internet Explorer versions you support in your environment."
Microsoft recently also announced the end of metadata services for Media Player on Windows 7. As a reminder, Windows 7 itself is also reaching end of support in January 2020, which will be a major reason for businesses to upgrade to Microsoft's latest Windows 10 operating system despite their concerns around compatibility and data loss issues.
