Microsoft is pulling the plug on Internet Explorer 8, 9 and 10 next week on 12 January, releasing a final patch that encourages users to upgrade to one of the company’s more recent browsers immediately. The end of supports means that these previous versions of Internet Explorer will no longer receive any security updates or technical supports, leaving users of the old browser much more vulnerable to hackers, viruses and other malicious threats.
Recently, a patch was announced in Microsoft’s official website, stating that the last few bug fixes will be delivered. Additionally, a new ‘End Of Life’ notification will be available in the browser, telling users to upgrade to IE 11 or Microsoft Edge, a successor to Internet Explorer which is built for Windows 10.
Microsoft had listed a few potential risks that will be faced by users who still uses Internet Explorer 8, 9 or 10. For example, in terms of lack of Independent Software Vendor support, the company stated that: “Many software vendors no longer support older versions of Internet Explorer. For example, Office 365 takes advantage of modern web standards and runs best with the latest browser.”
Back in August 2014, Microsoft already announced the end of support for Internet Explorer 8, 9 and 10. Also in March last year, the company switched IE to a “legacy” status, meaning that the browser will be kept around mostly for the sake of enterprise compatibility.
