The Discontinuation of Internet Explorer

Microsoft’s decision to stop supporting Internet Explorer came into effect on the 12th of January, this will mean that Microsoft will no longer release security updates and technical support.

This decision comes as the year is expected to see a rise in cybercrime to unprecedented levels and so Microsoft has started phasing Internet Explorer out in favour of Microsoft Edge, which isn’t available on anything but Windows 10! It is estimated that millions of PC users, who use Internet Explorer as their default browser, will be left on an unsupported browser.

Luckily there are plenty of alternative browsers for windows.

Google Chrome:

Chrome has become the browser of choice after being released in 2009; it boasts being one of the most secure browsers and has built in malware and phishing protection, which also notifies you when a website isn’t secure or if malware is detected. It’s also one of the faster browsers but it uses a lot of memory to achieve this, so you might need to sacrifice some performance for the speed.

Firefox:

Firefox has a wide array of features and is one of the most, if not the most customisable browser. Firefox, like Chrome, has built in malware and phishing detection, Firefox also has a feature where you can hover over links to see what they contain so you don’t accidently click on a harmful download. Although Chrome has a more polished and user friendly interface, Firefox has more features and customisability for the user.

Opera:

Like the others, Opera has a speedy start-up and a fair browsing speed. Opera also has built in malware and phishing protection. One of the main drawbacks of Opera is that a lot of web developers don’t prioritise the browser due to it only making up about 2% of the default browsers used and so can cause problems. There are a lot of extensions available to the user however in some cases they can be difficult to find.

There are many options out there to replace Internet Explorer if you STILL use it. The most popular being Google Chrome and rightly so, but it all comes down to personal preference, what works best for you might be completely different to everyone else.

If you enjoyed reading this, why not go and check out our previous post on “Why you need to have a CMS?”