Internet Explorer (IE) is maybe one of the most well-known browsers out there. And the reason for this is simple, it used to come with Windows and a lot of people chose to stick with it. Although newer versions of Windows replaced it with Microsoft Edge, at least 3% of the total amount of internet users are still sticking to this browser. But there’s a reason why Microsoft alone have chosen not to support it anymore and if they’re abandoning IE it may be a good time for you leave it behind too. So why should you not be using Internet Explorer?

Microsoft considers Internet Explorer to be a compatibility solution, not a website browser

Microsoft have stated that IE is more of a tool to support old web standards rather than a website browser. This means that the browser does not offer support for newer web standards and that will obviously impacts your user experience, worsening as time goes by. Internet Explorer doesn’t have a team that tests everything anymore which means the browser lacks one of the most important things a browser needs, and that’s support for any security issues.

As time goes by hackers are bound to exploit many of the browser’s vulnerabilities. This creates an obvious problem for you and your business because without active updates, you end up without any kind of basic protection against attackers. The simple fact that you lack such a fundamental and basic protection against online threats is obviously very problematic and its for this reason alone that you should avoid using Internet Explorer for your business. There are so many alternatives that are far more feature-rich to choose from that there’s really no excuse!

This is why your focus now has to be on finding a new browser solution which works for everyone without creating a security issue.

Bad add-on support

No matter what you do for a living, you will always notice that you need some kind of browser extension. Browser add-ons were not that popular at first, but as soon as people saw how functional and helpful they are, they’ve been quickly adopted. 

Due to Internet Explorer’s lack of support, add-ons are and will never be available – a particular sore point if you’re used to the wide range available with Chrome and Firefox. You want to focus on getting the best browser with complete support for the type of add-ons you may need whether this is email scheduling, a CRM extension or shopping/coupon add-ons.

Some websites are not rendering properly

As an internet user you always want to make sure that your experience is great and that you can explore the internet the way it was intended. Since Internet Explorer is now classed as a “legacy browser”, it’s quite common for web designers and developers not to even test their applications on it. And why is this? The reason is simple – not a lot of people use it anymore. At this point developers are focused on growing browsers and those that are very popular with the user base, leaving outdated products behind.

As a new browser IE was never great at staying up to date with new web technology and this problem is obviously even worse now. It shouldn’t be surprising that as you continue to use Internet Explorer you’ll notice that parts of websites do not display properly and some cloud based software will cease to work. There aren’t many other ways to seriously disrupt your businesses productivity.

No multiple tab feature

This is maybe the dealbreaker for business users. If you are a business user you want to use more than a single tab at once. Unfortunately Internet Explorer doesn’t really have the idea of tabs nailed down. So you just use a single tab for visiting sites, which is a pain.

In the end, Internet Explorer might seem like a good browser at first because that’s what you’ve always used, but it’s outdated and represents a series of security threats. If you want an effective default browser for your business, there are many other solutions like Opera, Firefox and Google Chrome. Take your time, study all solutions and then see which one suits your needs! Either way it’s safe to say that using Internet Explorer doesn’t make the most sense going forward.