back to article Microsoft drives users to the Edge: Internet Explorer to redirect to Chromium-based browser in November

Microsoft will forcibly push users off Internet Explorer and onto Edge next month, depending on the websites they visit. Users will find that after they download and install the latest version of Edge, version 87, if they open one of a 1,000-plus websites declared to be “incompatible” with Internet Explorer, the page will …

  1. Pascal Monett Silver badge

    "There are workarounds"

    Yeah, it's called Firefox, with NoScript and Ublock Origin.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: "There are workarounds"

      No idea if this is common, but my employer (large US outsourcing corp), has now announced they are banning the use of Firefox on company machines. :-(

      For years we were IE11 + Firefox (officially supported by the company).

      This changed to IE11 for legacy only, then Firefox or Chrome for everything else.

      We are now Edge primary (Chrome version), plus Chrome. Both are managed via company policy,. although so far you seem to be able to add whatever extensions you want. i.e. uBlock etc.

      Firefox users are okay for the moment, but they've been told Firefox will be auto removed from the new years onwards, so they need to move to Edge or Chrome before then.

      The reason for dropping Firefox, is apparently lack of control by the company. i.e. through policies etc.

      The company wants to push out a mandatory extension (we don't know what it does yet), and apparently Firefox lets users disable any extensions they want, with no way to stop them via policy. So goodbye Firefox :-/

      1. MiguelC Silver badge
        Angel

        Re: "There are workarounds"

        Portable apps --> Firefox portable

        1. J27

          Re: "There are workarounds"

          Or electron.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        "apparently lack of control by the company. i.e. through policies etc."

        Sysadmins out of date, it looks:

        https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/customizing-firefox-using-group-policy-windows

        But it is true for too long Firefox didn't cooperate to be administered centrally.

      3. steviebuk Silver badge

        Re: "There are workarounds"

        The NHS, way back in 2007 when I started there, did the same. Banned anything other than IE. And the cockend engineer I was forced to sit next too kept looking over my shoulder and commenting "You're not allowed to use Firefox" he really was a cunt. I had to explain, which, shockingly he was unaware, that Firefox was actually more secure. Also pointed out "It's not installed". It wasn't, it was the USB version :)

        A few years past when he finally shut the fuck up about it.

        Back then, their security was shocking. Considering I had to point out to the 3rd line engineer why WEP was insecure "But it's 128 WEP". Doesn't matter, even back then it could be cracked in 5mins. There was enough traffic flowing over the network during the day that all the people in the flats over the road, with a decent aerial, would of been on it in mins. Not only could they then snoop on all the traffic (patient data etc), they'd have free Internet, especially at night. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a knowitall engineer, far from it, but when you work with arrogant arses it does get annoying and you have to point these issues out.

    2. JDX Gold badge

      Re: "There are workarounds"

      Presumably you set your monitor to to VGA for the full backwards experience of using the internet with most of it turned off.

      1. J27

        Re: "There are workarounds"

        You can selectively enable scripts with noscript, otherwise no one would use it.

    3. illiad

      Re: "There are workarounds"

      Ublock Origin is for linux and tech heads.. adblock ultimate is much easier for 'normal' people...

  2. Gene Cash Silver badge

    Windows 7?

    So does this affect Windows 7, or am I safe?

    1. Sleep deprived
      Unhappy

      Re: Windows 7?

      Using a Microsoft browser never made you safe in the first place.

    2. Test Man

      Re: Windows 7?

      If you're using a non-supported browser on a non-supported system, it doesn't matter, sooner or later some sites will cease to work well on IE11 regardless, simply because no new features or support for newer web standards will be added to IE11.

    3. MJI Silver badge

      Re: Windows 7?

      You are safe as it does not install and try to take over Firefox

    4. Wilco

      Re: Windows 7?

      You are definitely not safe. You are using an unsupported browser on an unsupported operating system. You are setting yourself up for drive-by malware injection.

    5. N2

      Re: Windows 7?

      Safe to use it to download FF or Opera

    6. illiad

      Re: Windows 7?

      the simple answer is to DISABLE IE (I have renamed it to make sure!) and disable all updates..

      then use a good AV like Avast, (did you know AVG is now owned by them??)

      also regular use of CCleaner - the old version 5.41.6446 still works, the newer ones are rumored to be hacked...

      I have been using this for the last 5 years...

      Support?? google , seven forums, and HP still have it too... :)

      https://www.itpro.co.uk/microsoft-windows/31819/two-thirds-of-businesses-not-prepped-for-death-of-windows-7

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Let me get this straight

    For ever, MS wouldn’t allow you to (easily) uninstall IE from Windows.

    Now it’s browser non grata.

    1. sgp

      Re: Let me get this straight

      Yes yes, things have changed, the tables have turned, what goes up must come down, you can't have an omelet without breaking chicks. You know.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Let me get this straight

      Yes you're absolutely correct. The thing you've been moaning about for ages has finally happened and you're STILL fucking moaning about it.

      It's like the problem is your bigotry rather than anything MS have done.

      1. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

        Re: Let me get this straight

        "It's like the problem is your bigotry rather than anything MS have done."

        No, the problem is that if you install anything from MS on your computer they think they own it. And quite likely you as well.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Let me get this straight

          Sure, Google is very different, sure it's only a bug Chrome didn't delete Google and YouTube data... who owns your computer?

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Let me get this straight

        An operating system should work between you and the hardware to make life easier for you, not take over. I think the reason people are still complaining is not at all that they are bigots, but that Microsoft are still high-handedly taking over and doing what they want you to do, not enabling you to do what you want to do

      3. Claverhouse Silver badge

        Re: Let me get this straight

        Hatred is not bigotry.

    3. Binraider Silver badge

      Re: Let me get this straight

      Server 2019 can be installed as a desktop.... WITHOUT IE or Edge :-P

      Recommended if you really must have a native windows host.

      1. J27

        Re: Let me get this straight

        New Windows 10 installs now don't come with IE and it's not even on the add/remove Windows features list anymore.

    4. Alan Bourke

      Re: Let me get this straight

      Yes but they're pimping Edge just as hard.

  4. chivo243 Silver badge
    Coat

    Round 'em all up

    Grab all the likely suspects and take them out back and put them out of our misery... IE, Flash, Shockwave and Java.

    My coat, punk, with a .45 magnum in the pocket. I'm ready!

    1. Nick Ryan Silver badge

      Re: Round 'em all up

      Java has a place... just not in the browser.

    2. EnviableOne

      Re: Round 'em all up

      Try telling Oracle et all that, there e-business wsuite is riddled with it, oh and only works reliably in IE, or the ghost of IE available in compatibility mode in edge

  5. Binraider Silver badge

    Would this list of 1000 happen to include office 365 tosh? Not many corporates have rolled out edge yet but depend on o365. Oh what fun to come. I apologise in advice to the helldesks that are going to get abuse for this decision.

    1. Test Man

      I think so, but not really a massive issue when Office 365 sites are likely to work better on Edge anyway.

      1. Binraider Silver badge

        It was more a case that Corporates tend to be rather slower at deploying new software so I'm expecting redirect/begging please go use Edge while Edge isn't installed to be the new default complaint.

        1. JDX Gold badge

          Surely the kind of corporate who won't install Edge are not likely to endorse this new-fangled O365 malarkey?

    2. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

      "Not many corporates have rolled out edge yet"

      According to the article this only happens after installing the latest version of edge so if they haven't rolled it out at all it won't apply.

      1. J27

        You can only delay required updates so long.

  6. MJI Silver badge
    Mushroom

    The attitude annoys me

    Find your PC rebooted and a new browser installed and pushed in your face.

    Click on a link to open a web page, intercepts and moans at me for using FF, PDFs similar with I think it was cutePDF. Moan Moan Moan.

    Get out of my way I have work to do.

    1. sabroni Silver badge

      Re: Get out of my way I have work to do.

      Exactly what MS were thinking when they pushed edge to your pc without asking....

  7. Nick Ryan Silver badge
    Stop

    This would be vaguely reasonable, if it didn't push users to a specific, unconfigurable browser. I'd be happy enough if it pushed users from IE that way, but to force users onto Edge? Just not acceptable.

    1. sabroni Silver badge

      What configuration options are missing from edge? It allows me to install ublock, let's me install things from the chrome app store, the developer console looks fully featured and I've been able to configure it to start up as i like.

      Saying that, i have a laptop from a client and edge is locked down like a bastard (no "open in new tab" for specific links, some sites banned, no opening the dev tools) but that's the client, not edge.

      1. Cuddles

        "What configuration options are missing from edge?"

        I assume what was meant was that you can't configure which browser it forces you into. If you try to open certain sites in IE, it instead opens them in Edge, end of story - you can't configure it to instead open them in Firefox or any other browser. The problem isn't with the options that may be available in the browser you're forced to use, but simply with the fact that it forces you into that specific browser.

        1. sabroni Silver badge

          you can't configure which browser it forces you into

          I don't see why MS would release a tool that redirects IE to Firefox. If the user has firefox installed they can make it the default browser if that's what they want. I've just installed it, it asks to be default.

          I don't see the issue. There are two groups of IE users. Those who like IE (bear with me, they presumably exist) for whom Edge is the logical replacement, and those who have to use IE for certain corporate reasons, they don't get to pick what browser they use.

          The "unconfigurable" complaint is just slagging MS off because they're MS. People know that always goes down a storm on here, irrespective of the actual arguments.

          1. Alan Bourke

            Re: you can't configure which browser it forces you into

            There are three groups of users - you missed the ones for whom it's simply a case of 'click on the blue E for the internet'. If Firefox's icon was a blue E, they'd be using that.

  8. mark l 2 Silver badge

    "It also means that if you specifically designed your website to work with Internet Explorer, something that used to be common during the browser wars, it’s time to rebuild it to work on Chromium"

    NO! do not redevelop your website to work on Chromium. Make it so it works across all browsers. I don't want to be forced to have to use a specific browser just because some developer wants some shiny shiny feature only available on Chromium based browsers

    1. JDX Gold badge

      Maybe the other browsers should add those features. There are niches where you can't do what you want without them. Rare, though.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Sometimes those features are not standard and just pushed because Google wants them. Just wait for Google killing all those lovely privacy and ad-blocking adds-on... and hope others not follow the same way (Edge will do, anyway).

    2. EnviableOne

      If your website doesnt work on chromium, its been niche for years Chrome has had like 70% of the market for like a decade....

  9. Binraider Silver badge

    I persuaded another convert to Linux Mint last night. Old AMD A8 based laptop - I'll grant, a bit of a turd - but a fast one. It had had it's mandated free "upgrade" to Win 10. Nagging popups to install, followed by flashy videos to beg you to use it. And damn slow to process those updates.

    Edge is just a bloody browser, not the second coming. The only reason you want me to use yours over a competitor is because slurp.

    Said user flattened the machine with Mint last night. I quote "It's installed. Never realised Linux could be so straightforward. Wish I'd done it sooner". No better advert than a happy customer.

    Still trying to persuade people the benefits of Pi-hole for DNS filtering esp. if you live in Microsoft land. It is shocking just how much traffic even the default filters kill - roughly 27% of requests after 6 months usage. One step at a time.

    1. Snake Silver badge

      Minty freshness?

      As long a your user doesn't do anything outside the realm of Linux' limited desktop application support (compared to its rivals), they'll be fine.

      1. J27

        Re: Minty freshness?

        So, games that don't support Wine or Proton?

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Minty freshness?

          Why go through compatibility layers and bad graphic drivers with expensive GPUs when you can run games natively? That's true for many other applications.

          Why should I spend a lot of time trying to get the same result from my photo processing workflow on Linux where the tools I use don't exist - from camera utilities down to printer drivers and utilitiles - and everything between (photo editors and their plug-ins) - trying to find alternatives usually with little support for uncommon cameras or lenses, and often having to renounce to specific functionalities? Sure, if all you use is Facebook you can go with Linux.

          People use applications, only nerds love operating systems and spending more time to get applications running that actually running them.

      2. Binraider Silver badge

        Re: Minty freshness?

        It's an old banger of a laptop - it'll be used for web browsing, video playback, maybe some emulation. Really, unless you desperately need MS or Adobe, is the application base that limited? For average user LibreOffice and GIMP go a long way (accepting there's a learning curve on any complex application). Games support is really the only area where it's a bit weak. Steam / Proton by no means perfect is getting there.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      'Slurp'... Laughable. Google is the king of Slurp, followed by Facebook, Apple. Microsoft barely qualifies. Hell, Windows lets you turn the telemetry off, try doing that in Android.

      At least you're a Linux evangelist, because the Apple guys say the same sort of thing while putting up with whatever the Empire gives them.

      P.S. Pi-holes are cool.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        @AC - Last time I checked

        there was no way to disable telemetry on W10. Now that you mention it, I'll look again. Nope! All you can do is set it to basic.

        On Android Google is number one slurper while on PC Microsoft is the undisputed king.

      2. Dan 55 Silver badge
        WTF?

        Hell, Windows lets you turn the telemetry off

        Whaaaa?

    3. AndyMTB

      Upvoted for pi-hole! Reminded me to check on the status of mine - uptime 134 days. Amazing how much faster sites run when you don't even have to fetch the ads!

  10. x 7

    that's the NHS fuc*ed then

    A heck of a lot of NHS clinical software only works with IE and Java

    This could create a horrible mess

    1. JDX Gold badge

      Re: that's the NHS fuc*ed then

      They are running special versions of Windows with different update paradigms.

      1. Nick Ryan Silver badge

        Re: that's the NHS fuc*ed then

        If only that was more true. Although "not updating" is some form of update paradigm.

      2. EnviableOne

        Re: that's the NHS fuc*ed then

        Nah 90% of the NHS are now on Win10 E5, but IE isnt dead, they just hid Trident in the background of Edge, and you need to use policy to enable it for specific sites.

  11. PiltdownMan
    Alert

    You can uninstall Edge??????

    "Non-enterprise customers that want to stop the redirect will either have to dig around in the registry or uninstall Edge."

    I'll uninstall Edge then!

    I'm already running Brave, PiHole (on a RPi 4B!) and Shut Up Windows 10. Hope that covers the slurping

  12. a_yank_lurker

    Now...

    If my local IT department would fix some stuff so it would work with credge then I can avoid imbecile explorer forever.

    1. Nick Ryan Silver badge

      Re: Now...

      Usually it's not down to the IT department, it's down to the idiot original developers of whatever crapware was designed to work with Internet Explorer, rather than designed to work with well established international standards instead.

  13. fidodogbreath

    Missed opportunity

    They could've named the file ie_to_edge_BOFH.dll

  14. Hubert Cumberdale Silver badge

    'websites declared to be “incompatible” with Internet Explorer'?

    I think they've got that the wrong way round. It's IE that's incompatible with the websites...

  15. Victor Ludorum

    My machine's still on v86

    Presumably these settings won't work in 87?

    In Edge -> Settings -> Default browser you can control the Internet Explorer compatibility.

    'Let Internet Explorer open sites in Microsoft Edge' -> choose from 'Never', 'Incompatible sites only (recommended)' or 'Always'.

    There's also a bunch of registry keys you can play with - search for 1FD49718...

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