Microsoft Edge replaced Internet Explorer as the default Windows web browser in 2015. Six years later, Microsoft is rather forcefully replacing that version of Edge with a newer model.
Microsoft announced on its tech blog Friday that Edge Legacy (the older version of the browser that comes preinstalled on PCs with Windows 10) will be automatically removed from those computers with a software update on April 13. Anyone still using Edge Legacy on Windows 10 is strongly advised to switch to the new version of Edge based on Google’s open-source Chromium software launched a year ago.
If you don’t 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 find it replaced with the new version of Edge. In theory, you could keep using Edge Legacy if you just don’t install the April 13 software update, but the Chromium version of Edge is the only one to keep getting new features and, most importantly, security updates in the future.
For what it’s worth, Microsoft promises the new Edge is fast and reliable. We let you judge that. This should go without saying, but if you’re using a third party browser like Chrome or Firefox, this change won’t affect your daily routine in any way. It will be like it never happened. We promise.
The removal news is not entirely a surprise. Microsoft confirmed in August 2020 that the Edge Legacy browser will no longer be supported after March 9, 2021. The latest development reinforces the coming change, with Microsoft taking the dramatic step of automatically removing the browser.
Internet Explorer will hang, although that too has been set for some changes. Microsoft began to phase out support for the browser in November 2020, and that is expected to end on August 17, 2021, when Microsoft 365 will end support for the now old browser.
However, that doesn’t mean Explorer Edge will follow Legacy into obscurity. Microsoft wrote in its 2020 announcement that the browser “won’t go away”. The reason? “Customers have made mission-critical investments in legacy IE 11 apps and we respect that those apps still work.”
That said, you certainly shouldn’t still be using Internet Explorer unless you have a specific reason to do so.