Internet Explorer and automatic redirect in Edge

Microsoft has already stressed on several occasions that the definitive farewell to Internet Explorer is now just around the corner: the official term of support is set for August 2021. However, we will get there step by step. Yet another step in this direction is the one just announced with the intention of moving users still connected to the old browser (about 5% of the total share according to NetMarketShare) towards the newest Edge based on Chromium.

The era of IE at sunset: it's time for Edge

In the rollout phase a feature that, once you type a URL in the IE address bar, will automatically open it in Edge (launching from itself the software) if the site is on an incompatibility list compiled and continuously updated directly by the Redmond group. A redirect is therefore performed through the component named IEtoEdge BHO (its files "ie_to_edge_bho.dll", "ie_to_edge_bho_64.dll" and "ie_to_edge_stub.exe" are located in the directory "C: \ Program Files (x86) \ Microsoft \ Edge \ Application \ [version-edge] \ BHO "). The screenshot below was shared by the BleepingComputer editors.



At the moment the list includes 1,156: there are also well known and popular homepages such as those of Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Google Drive, ESPN, Yahoo Mail and even Teams, a service for remote communication managed by Microsoft.

At the end of the summer, the software house also announced that Flash Player support for Internet Explorer will be permanently discontinued by 2020. All necessary steps in order to strengthen Edge's position vis-à-vis the competition, within a market now literally dominated by Google with the Chrome alternative.

Source: BleepingComputer