Internet Explorer 8, 9 and 10 will die next week

Beginning January 12, 2016, only the most current version of Internet Explorer available for a supported operating system will receive technical support and security updates. Internet Explorer 11 is the last version of Internet Explorer, and will continue to receive security updates, compatibility fixes, and technical support on Windows 7, Windows 8.1, and Windows 10.

The patch that will go live on January 12, will remind Internet Explorer users that it’s time to upgrade to a modern browser. The KB3123303 update will add this reminder box which will appear for Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2 users still using the old browsers after installing the update.

What does this mean?

It means you should take action because after January 12, 2016, Microsoft will no longer provide security updates or technical support for older versions of Internet Explorer, leaving room for vulnerabilities that may be exploited by malware.

This is great news for developers who still need to target these old browsers. Not having to worry about whether modern CSS will work in these browsers or not, is a dream that is getting very close to coming true.

The reminder can be disabled by those that haven’t made the upgrade yet, through the registry, although it’s probably easier to simply upgrade to Internet Explorer 11.