7 ms·

But they would also have Edge installed in Windows Server 2022. It's a very small population that has a trivial workaround: use the _default_ default browser th

But they would also have Edge installed in Windows Server 2022. It's a very small population that has a trivial workaround: use the _default_ default browser that came with the server operating system.

dane-pgp 4y ago
Well, yes, "Just use a different browser" has always been a workaround that web developers can suggest to their users, but let me point out a more substantive problem with that recommendation: Microsoft Edge was not included with Windows Embedded 8.1 Industry (although it was later made available for it), and that operating system is still within "extended support" until July 2023. You're right, though, that basically anyone on any supported Windows operating system has an option available to them which probably takes less effort than that required for someone to add and maintain IE11 support to their website.
- rsstack 4y ago
  > Microsoft Edge was not included with Windows Embedded 8.1 Industry (although it was later made available for it), and that operating system is still within "extended support" until July 2023. Do people browse generally available websites from cash registers? I'd assume they only browse internal portals.
- zinekeller 4y ago
  Microsoft has broken its maintenance-only policy (and in Windows 7's case its EOL policy) by pushing an update that installs Microsoft Edge and WebView2 (https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/kb5001027-update-for-the-new-microsoft-edge-for-windows-7-sp1-and-windows-8-1-march-16-2021-d43148cf-39b4-449e-9903-c4bc1499cf0a https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/kb5001027-update-f...)
MBCook 4y ago
Except that new browser won’t support Active-X or Java applets. Yes those still exist. Yes they are needed. Yes I have to support them. Pity me.
- rsstack 4y ago
  There's a difference between "our website uses ActiveX which is unique to IE11, so we need to support IE11" and "our website is HTML/CSS/JS, and we need to support IE11". I do pity you, but I no longer have to pity other people :)
- Beltalowda 4y ago
  > Except that new browser won’t support Active-X or Java applets. That's mostly just used for specialized websites/webapps I think (often internal)? You can still launch IE for that, and use Edge, Chrome, Firefox, or any other browser for regular browsing. It's not substantially different from using Electron for desktop apps when you think about it. Many years ago I worked for a company that used an internal ActiveX-based application (which worked fairly well for us) and this is pretty much what everyone was doing. The biggest hurdle is probably corporate policies and such that prevent installing any alternative to IE yourself and IT dept. doesn't want to provide you with one either, but at this point I think that's just $BigCorp's problem and I don't care any more. For the record: I take web compat fairly serious and made things compatible with IE11 up to last year, but there's a limit.
  - MBCook 4y ago
    Oh it’s definitely specialized stuff using Java. Like one feature of the specialized B2B thing I work on. The process to replace that feature is not done. So here I am.
- saratogacx 4y ago
  Edge has an IE mode which is essentially hosting a trident control in an edge host so you can still stop using iexplore.exe and use this as your exception case. https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/deployedge/edge-ie-mode https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/deployedge/edge-ie-mode We've tested this at my company that hasn't finished getting rid of java applets and it is taking place of IE until we're done with migrating away from them.
  - MBCook 4y ago

dane-pgp 4y ago

Well, yes, "Just use a different browser" has always been a workaround that web developers can suggest to their users, but let me point out a more substantive problem with that recommendation: Microsoft Edge was not included with Windows Embedded 8.1 Industry (although it was later made available for it), and that operating system is still within "extended support" until July 2023. You're right, though, that basically anyone on any supported Windows operating system has an option available to them which probably takes less effort than that required for someone to add and maintain IE11 support to their website.

rsstack 4y ago
> Microsoft Edge was not included with Windows Embedded 8.1 Industry (although it was later made available for it), and that operating system is still within "extended support" until July 2023. Do people browse generally available websites from cash registers? I'd assume they only browse internal portals.
zinekeller 4y ago
Microsoft has broken its maintenance-only policy (and in Windows 7's case its EOL policy) by pushing an update that installs Microsoft Edge and WebView2 (https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/kb5001027-update-for-the-new-microsoft-edge-for-windows-7-sp1-and-windows-8-1-march-16-2021-d43148cf-39b4-449e-9903-c4bc1499cf0a https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/kb5001027-update-f...)

MBCook 4y ago

Except that new browser won’t support Active-X or Java applets. Yes those still exist. Yes they are needed. Yes I have to support them. Pity me.

rsstack 4y ago
There's a difference between "our website uses ActiveX which is unique to IE11, so we need to support IE11" and "our website is HTML/CSS/JS, and we need to support IE11". I do pity you, but I no longer have to pity other people :)
Beltalowda 4y ago
> Except that new browser won’t support Active-X or Java applets. That's mostly just used for specialized websites/webapps I think (often internal)? You can still launch IE for that, and use Edge, Chrome, Firefox, or any other browser for regular browsing. It's not substantially different from using Electron for desktop apps when you think about it. Many years ago I worked for a company that used an internal ActiveX-based application (which worked fairly well for us) and this is pretty much what everyone was doing. The biggest hurdle is probably corporate policies and such that prevent installing any alternative to IE yourself and IT dept. doesn't want to provide you with one either, but at this point I think that's just $BigCorp's problem and I don't care any more. For the record: I take web compat fairly serious and made things compatible with IE11 up to last year, but there's a limit.
- MBCook 4y ago
  Oh it’s definitely specialized stuff using Java. Like one feature of the specialized B2B thing I work on. The process to replace that feature is not done. So here I am.
saratogacx 4y ago
Edge has an IE mode which is essentially hosting a trident control in an edge host so you can still stop using iexplore.exe and use this as your exception case. https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/deployedge/edge-ie-mode https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/deployedge/edge-ie-mode We've tested this at my company that hasn't finished getting rid of java applets and it is taking place of IE until we're done with migrating away from them.
- MBCook 4y ago