Using an old version of Internet Explorer? You need to upgrade to IE 11 now

sincity · January 6, 2016

In case you've forgotten, older versions of the Internet Explorer web browser won't be supported as of next week – and Microsoft has issued another reminder to this effect, and indeed will implement a nag screen to get users to upgrade.

Internet Explorer versions 8, 9 and 10 hit their end-of-life on January 12 – next Tuesday – and as of that date, will no longer be supported. That means no more security updates, or indeed any updates full-stop, or paid-for support options.

In other words, your old browser will potentially have unpatched vulnerabilities going forward, which is obviously very bad news.

Microsoft will be urging folks to upgrade to Internet Explorer 11, and a nag box will be patched into old versions of IE next Tuesday for Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2 users, The Next Web reports.

Redmond says that Internet Explorer 11 will be supported for the life of Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 10 – although it will doubtless encourage those using its newest OS to switch to the new Edge browser.

Microsoft observes that when it comes to businesses, not only are there security risks in continuing to use an old version of Internet Explorer past January 12, but compliance requirements may also be violated, which is doubtless also very bad news.

Microsoft has issued several warnings on upgrading IE in the past, and if you haven't heeded them yet, now's the time to finally make a move.