Internet Explorer is still being used by millions of people for some reason
Windows 10 users can’t bear to say goodbye to Internet Explorer
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Millions of users worldwide still really love Internet Explorer, despite the agedbrowserset to see the end of officialMicrosoftsupport imminently.
Research from Lansweeper exclusively shared withTechRadar Proclaim nearly half (47%) ofWindows 10devices will need to be updated due to still using Internet Explorer as their browser - equivalent to millions of PCs in offices and other workplaces around the world.
Microsoft isofficially ending support for Internet Explorer 11soon (June 15, 2022), meaning users will now need to update to Edge, the company’s actually-supported browser, or risk potential cyberattack.
Farewell Internet Explorer
The figures don’t just cover a small amount of niche users, as Lansweeper audited more than nine million devices from 33,000 organizations to compile its results.
Microsoft has repeatedly warned businesses thatInternet Explorer would be officially retiredthis year, but not all companies have been proactive enough to come up with a plan to transition to another browser yet.
Microsoft first announced plans to retire support for Internet Explorer 11 across Windows 10 and Microsoft 365 back in August 2020, and since then has been gradually stripping back services for the software.
The company recently recommended that businesses still using Internet Explorerset their own retirement dateinstead.
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They should also ensure that Internet Explorer mode, which aims to support legacy websites and applications withinMicrosoft Edgeuntil they can be ported over to the new software, is set up in Edge to allow employees to access Explorer-dependent sites going forward.
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However it isn’t just unsupported browser builds that are causing issues, as Lansweeper also found a huge amount (79%) of PCs surveyed were not even running the latest version of Windows 10, let aloneWindows 11.
The company found Windows 10 Version 2004 was the most popular build running on corporate devices, despite there being three subsequent updates since its release in May 2020.
Users should always make sure their devices are upgraded to the latest release of Windows, as the company regularly includes security patches and fixes for the latest vulnerabilities.
“From our perspective, it’s not a complete surprise that only a fifth of the Windows 10 devices are on the latest version, or that Internet Explorer EOL will affect so many,” said Roel Decneut, Chief Strategy Officer at Lansweeper.
“There could be many reasons for organizations to delay upgrading, including being more conservative, having more pressing issues to deal with, or simply having no visibility into the version ofoperating systemsthey’re running. Organizations will need an overview of each device they own when Internet Explorer 11 support finally ends. Without this data, they’ll remain vulnerable.”
Mike Moore is Deputy Editor at TechRadar Pro. He has worked as a B2B and B2C tech journalist for nearly a decade, including at one of the UK’s leading national newspapers and fellow Future title ITProPortal, and when he’s not keeping track of all the latest enterprise and workplace trends, can most likely be found watching, following or taking part in some kind of sport.
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