Microsoft Edge replaced Internet Explorer as the default Windows browser in 2015. Six years later, Microsoft is vigorously replacing this version of Edge with a newer model.
Microsoft announced on its technology blog on Friday that Edge Legacy (the older version of the browser that comes pre-installed on Windows 10 PCs) will be automatically removed from those computers with a software update on April 13. Anyone still using Edge Legacy on Windows 10 is strongly recommended to switch to the new version of Edge based on Google’s open source software Chromium, released a year ago.
If you do not make the switch manually before April 13, your PC will do it for you. Those who have Edge Legacy on their taskbars or desktops will see it replaced by the new version of Edge. Theoretically, you could continue using Edge Legacy if you simply don’t install the April 13 software update, but the Chromium version of Edge is the only one that will continue to receive new features and, most importantly, security updates in the future.
To be worth it, Microsoft promises that the new Edge is fast and reliable. We’ll let you be the judge of that. This goes without saying, but if you use a third-party browser like Chrome or Firefox, this change will not affect your daily routine at all. It will be like it never happened. We promise.
The news of the removal is not entirely a surprise. Microsoft confirmed in August 2020 that the Edge Legacy browser would no longer be supported after March 9, 2021. The latest development reinforces the impending change, with Microsoft taking the dramatic step of removing the browser automatically.
Internet Explorer will remain around, although it is also configured for some changes. Microsoft started decreasing support for the browser in November 2020, and that should end on August 17, 2021, when Microsoft 365 ends support for the now old browser.
This does not mean that Explorer will follow Edge Legacy into oblivion, however. Microsoft wrote in the 2020 announcement that the browser “is not leaving”. The reason? “Customers have made business-critical investments in legacy IE 11 applications and we respect that those applications still work.”
That said, you should definitely not use Internet Explorer unless you have a specific reason for doing so.