In today's world, Internet Explorer 11 has become increasingly relevant. Whether due to its impact on society, its influence on popular culture or its relevance in the scientific field, Internet Explorer 11 has become a topic of general interest for a wide spectrum of audiences. In this article we will explore topics related to Internet Explorer 11, analyzing its importance, its implications and its evolution over time. From its origins to the present, Internet Explorer 11 has been the object of debate, controversy and fascination, and in the following lines we will seek to shed light on this topic that is so relevant in the contemporary world.
Web browser by Microsoft for Windows released in 2013
Internet Explorer 11 (IE11) is the eleventh and final version of the Internet Explorerweb browser. It was initially released on October 17, 2013, and was later released for older Windows versions on November 7, 2013. It is the successor to Internet Explorer 10, released the previous year, and was the original, default browser before Microsoft Edge was introduced. On April 16, 2019, Internet Explorer 11 was made available to Windows Server 2012 and Windows Embedded 8 Standard as the final expansion of Internet Explorer 11 availability. Internet Explorer 11, like its predecessor, is not available for earlier versions of Windows and Windows Server.
On January 12, 2016, Microsoft adjusted their product lifecycle policies to only support the most recent version of Internet Explorer offered for any given version of Windows. Support for Internet Explorer 11, now regarded as an "OS component", is bound to the version of the Windows it is installed on. Thus, Microsoft provides updates only to currently supported versions of Windows. This includes Windows LTSC (formerly LTSB), and supported Windows Server versions, which will continue to receive IE11 updates until their respective end-of-support dates. The exception to this is the Windows Semi-Annual Channel (SAC). For SAC versions of Windows, Internet Explorer 11 support ended on June 15, 2022, Internet Explorer was permanently disabled on February 14, 2023, and any remaining icons or shortcuts were due to be removed on June 13, 2023. However, on May 19, 2023, various organizations disapproved, leading Microsoft to withdraw the change. IE11 can still be accessed in some capacity with a third-party method.
IE Mode, a feature of Microsoft Edge, enables Edge to display web pages using Internet Explorer 11's Trident layout engine and other core components. Through IE Mode, the underlying technology of Internet Explorer 11 partially exists on Windows that do not support Internet Explorer as a proper application. Microsoft has announced support for IE Mode through at least 2029, with a one-year advance notice prior to retiring this variant of IE11.
IE11 features redesigned developer tools, support for WebGL, enhanced scaling for high DPI screens, prerender and prefetch. After launch IE11 got support for HTTP/2. In addition, IE11 supports Full Screen and Orientation APIs, CSS border image support, JavaScript enhancements, DOM mutation observers, Web Cryptography API, video text track support, encrypted media support and an improved HTML editor. IE11 uses Transport Layer Security v1.2 as the default protocol for secure connections and deprecates RC4cipher suite.
The "document mode" feature in the developer toolset (F12) allows simulating the rendering behaviour of Internet Explorer versions 5 to 10 to facilitate testing pages for compatibility.
Internet Explorer 11 for Windows RT does not support Java and other add-ons.
Removed features
IE11 has deprecateddocument.all, meaning that code that checks for its presence will not detect it, but code that actually uses it will continue to work. Additionally, the attachEvent proprietary API has been removed.
Quick Tabs (CTRL+Q)
Work Offline command removed from File menu
Drag and drop of selected content from IE to other programs like Word or WordPad[citation needed]
Use large icons for command buttons
Some Group Policy settings are no longer supported.
Ability to view all cookies at once via Developer Tools
KB3139929 bundles a patch which adds advertising of a Windows upgrade offer to the new tab page.
Performance
In a November 2013 review by SitePoint, IE11 scored better than Google Chrome 30 and Firefox 26 in WebKit's SunSpider test and Google's WebGL test. It tied with Chrome for fastest in Microsoft's "fish aquarium" benchmark for WebGL and came last in Google's V8 performance benchmark. As a result of the speed improvements, the reviewer said "if you switched to Chrome for speed alone, you're now using the wrong browser." IE11 was also observed to use less memory with multiple tabs open than contemporary versions of Chrome and Firefox.
In August 2015, SitePoint again benchmarked IE11 in its review for Microsoft Edge, where Edge 12, Chrome 44 and Firefox 39 were also present. IE11 came last in Apple's JetStream test (which replaced SunSpider) and Google's Octane test (which replaces V8) but it came second in Microsoft's "fish aquarium" test, after Edge.
History
Though an internal build of IE11 was leaked on March 25, 2013, its first preview version was not formally released until June 2013, during the Build 2013 conference. On July 25, 2013, Microsoft released the developer preview of Internet Explorer 11.
Legend:
Old version
Older version, still maintained
Latest version
Latest preview version
Future release
History of Internet Explorer releases
Name
Version
Release date
Works on
New features
Old version, no longer maintained: Developer Preview
Old version, no longer maintained: Release Preview
Old version, no longer maintained: 11.0.9600.16384
September 17, 2013
Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2
Performance improvements
Old version, no longer maintained: Internet Explorer 11
Old version, no longer maintained: 11.0.9600.16384
October 17, 2013
Windows 7, Windows 8.1, Windows 10, Windows Server 2016, Windows Server 2019, and Windows Server 2022
Uses the same build number as the Release Preview.
Internet Explorer is set up to run websites, based on legacy HTML technologies, which are not, or improperly, supported in Microsoft Edge.
Current stable version:Internet Explorer 11
Current stable version: 11.0.9600.21811
January 9, 2024
Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1, and Windows Server 2008 SP2
KB4516046: Cumulative security update for Internet Explorer (September 10, 2019)
KB5034120: Cumulative security update for Internet Explorer (January 9, 2024)
While there were no other releases of Internet Explorer, an update was released on April 2, 2014, which added Enterprise Mode, improved developer tools, improved support for WebGL and ECMAScript 5.1.
With the release of Windows 11, Windows Server Insider Build 22463 and later, Internet Explorer is no longer preinstalled on any new devices (the application that is, while its core component is due to Microsoft's integration of IE in Windows), but users can still launch Internet Explorer from the Control Panel's browser toolbar settings on or via the PowerShell. Microsoft Edge is the only preinstalled browser in the operating system. An Internet Explorer mode is however provided in Microsoft Edge to run legacy websites. On February 14, 2023, Microsoft permanently disabled IE11 on the Windows Semi-Annual Channel (SAC) as part of a Microsoft Edge update released on February 14, 2023. IE11 visual references, such as the IE11 icons on the Start Menu and taskbar, were set to be removed from Windows SAC by the June 2023 Windows security update ("B" release) on June 13, 2023, however this decision has been reverted.