Support for older versions of Internet Explorer ends on Tuesday January 12, 2016. If your business is still running Internet Explorer 8, 9, or 10, Microsoft is strongly recommending you upgrade as soon as possible.

On Tuesday Microsoft will be officially ceasing support for all three versions. This means that there will be no more security updates or technical support for these older versions of Internet Explorer.

Security updates patch identified vulnerabilities that hackers use to deploy viruses, spyware and malware to gain access to your systems. Microsoft’s regular security updates are essential to minimising the chances of being exploited, and using older versions of there software that is no longer supported or patched creates a serious risk for your business.

Internet Explorer 11 is the last version of Internet Explorer, and will continue to receive security updates, compatibility fixes, and technical support on Windows 7, Windows 8.1, and Windows 10 operating systems.

The latest version 11 offers improved security, increased performance, better backward compatibility, and support for the web standards that power today’s websites and services. Microsoft encourages all customers to upgrade and stay up-to-date on the latest browser for a faster, more secure browsing experience.

Windows 10 users can also move directly to the latest Microsoft browser; Microsoft Edge. Edge includes a multitude of new features including the ability to add notes to a web page and distribute (Web Note) and provides enhanced reading capabilities.

An estimated twenty percent of desktop users are still utilising these older versions. Microsoft has released an ‘End of Life’ upgrade notification to be delivered on Tuesday with the final few bug fixes for the older versions, alongside a note to upgrade.

More information about the ‘End of Life’ announcement and changes is available on the Microsoft website.

If you require assistance with upgrading from these old versions, please contact your blueAPACHE account manager.