Microsoft is killing off even more of its software – this time old versions of Internet Explorer. We explain what you must do to stay safe
What’s happening?
Support for older versions of Microsoft’s 20-year-old web browser, Internet Explorer (IE), ended on 12 January 2016, meaning that only the most recent version of the browser for your OS will be supported from this date. For Windows 7, 8 and 10 users, only IE11 will be supported from now on. For Vista, IE9 is the only supported version.
Why is Microsoft doing this?
All of Microsoft’s software products, including Internet Explorer, have life cycles (see www.snipca.com/19190), which eventually reach a natural conclusion. A similar thing happened with Windows XP in 2014, when the popular operating system reached the end of its support period. It’s likely that Internet Explorer will eventually be phased out altogether in favour of Microsoft’s new web browser, Edge, which comes built into Windows 10.
What does this mean for you?
If you still have an older version of IE installed on your PC, you’ll need to stop using it and choose another browser. Microsoft no longer releases security patches or updates for previous versions of IE, which effectively leaves your PC open to hackers to exploit any vulnerabilities. It’s not safe to continue using these versions, even if your security software is up to date.
How can you find out what version you’re using?
Your browser may be set to update automatically, meaning you may have upgraded to IE11 without realising. To check which version of IE you’re running, click the cog icon in the top right (or the Help menu),then select About Internet Explorer.
Which browser should I now use?
Windows 10 users can rest easy; you’ll have been automatically updated to IE11 as part of your upgrade. Users of Windows 7 and 8 can update to IE11 by downloading it directly from www.snipca.com/19186. Vista users can download IE9 from www.snipca.com/19187. Alternatively, consider switching to another browser altogether.
If you’re a Windows 10 user, you may want to try Edge, which includes handy features, such as a Reading List that lets you save pages for later, and a special reading mode that cuts most of the clutter from web pages.
The best thing about Google Chrome (www.snipca.com/19188) is that you can customise it using apps and extensions – most of which are free. It’s pretty fast, too. Its major downside is that it hogs a lot of memory, though Google has tried to fix this in recent versions. Firefox (www.snipca.com/19189) isn’t as popular as it used to be but the latest version (43) makes some big security improvements and, like Chrome, extensions can add useful new functions and abilities.
Like Firefox and Chrome, Opera supports extensions and has some interesting tricks up its sleeve, including Turbo mode, which uses compression to load web pages faster.
HOW TO SWITCH TO ANOTHER BROWSER
When you install a new browser or launch it for the first time, you’ll be asked whether you want to import your bookmarks and settings from your old browser and set your new one as the default. It’s possible to do this at a later date if you want to test the browser before you commit.
In Chrome, click the menu button (three horizontal lines), then Settings, then scroll to People for options to import bookmarks and make it your default browser. In Opera, you’ll find these options by clicking the Opera button, Settings, then scrolling to ‘Default browser’. In Firefox, click the menu (three horizontal lines), Options, then Make Default. Next, click the bookmarks button, ‘Show all bookmarks’, ‘Import and Backup’, then ‘Import data from another browser’.