It's the end of an era; with today's Microsoft Edge update, Internet Explorer will be permanently disabled on some versions of Windows 10 devices, according to an official announcement from Microsoft. After two decades of being the most widely used browser, Internet Explorer's reign has come to an end.

The decline of Internet Explorer has been a long time coming. It began in the early 2000s, when competitors such as Firefox, Chrome, and Safari began to gain popularity. As these browsers offered new features and better performance, Internet Explorer began to lose ground.

The end of Internet Explorer marks the end of an era. For many, Internet Explorer was the browser of choice for years, and its death is a reminder that technology is constantly changing. 

Here is the official announcement from Microsoft:

As previously communicated, the out-of-support Internet Explorer 11 (IE11) desktop application is scheduled to be permanently disabled on certain versions of Windows 10 devices on February 14, 2023, through a Microsoft Edge update. Devices that have not already been redirected from IE11 to Microsoft Edge are scheduled to be redirected with the Microsoft Edge update scheduled for this date. This change is intended to provide a better user experience and help organizations transition their last remaining IE11 users to Microsoft Edge. As a reminder, IE11 has been out of support since June 15, 2022.

If your organization still has dependencies on IE11, you must take steps now to complete your transition before February 14, 2023, or risk business disruption at scale when users lose access to IE11-dependent applications. Organizations that have already transitioned from IE11 to Microsoft Edge with IE mode will not be impacted when the IE11 desktop application is permanently disabled on this date. IE11 visual references, such as the IE11 icons on the Start Menu and taskbar, will be removed by the June 2023 Windows monthly security update release (‘B’ release) scheduled for June 13, 2023, and will also be removed by the non-security preview release on certain Windows 10 versions scheduled for May 23, 2023.

The update will be delivered through the Microsoft Edge browser and not as a regular Windows update. Users will not be able to revert the update, even if they want to.