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Microsoft To Finally Retire Internet Explorer In 2022
Microsoft has been gradually phasing out Internet Explorer over the years by cutting it off from accessing some of its products, and promoting Microsoft Edge.
After more than 25 years of service, Microsoft has finally decided to retire its iconic web browser, Internet Explorer.
The official end of its support has been scheduled on June 15, 2022, and the few people who still rely on it are encouraged to switch to Microsoft Edge or some other modern web browser by that time.
“We are announcing that the future of Internet Explorer on Windows 10 is in Microsoft Edge,” writes Sean Lyndersay, Microsoft Edge program manager, in the official press release.
The announcement is great news for all web developers who still have to implement various compatibility hacks just to make their websites display well on Internet Explorer, whose web browser market share has been hovering around 1 percent lately, according to data from StatCounter.
Microsoft has been gradually phasing out Internet Explorer over the years by cutting it off from accessing some of its products, including Microsoft 365 online services, which will completely stop supporting the web browser beginning August 17, 2021.
“Not only is Microsoft Edge a faster, more secure, and more modern browsing experience than Internet Explorer, but it is also able to address a key concern: compatibility for older, legacy websites and applications,” Lyndersay adds.
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Indeed, Microsoft Edge has a built-in compatibility mode for legacy Internet Explorer-based websites and applications, including those that rely on ActiveX, a deprecated software framework that allows websites to provide interactive content such as videos and games.
The latest iteration of Microsoft Edge is actually based on Chromium, the open-source codebase for Google’s Chrome web browser. Because Edge and Chrome share the same codebase, they also support the same extensions and offer similar features. However, many independent tests show that Edge has the upper hand when it comes to performance, memory usage, and responsiveness.
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Visa’s Return To Syria Starts With A Test And A Bank In Lebanon
Foreign visitors will be the first users to benefit, but whether Syria’s own banks and cardholders follow is still an open question.
Visa is returning to Syria. Its first live international card transaction in the country was a test rather than a launch, and the milestone event ran through a Lebanese bank.
The acquirer (the bank on the merchant’s side of a card payment) was Fransabank Lebanon, with Paymera as the other named partner. Nadim Moujaes, who heads a Fransabank Group subsidiary, describes the test as both the culmination of “longstanding efforts to link Syria back to international payment networks” and “the first step in a larger path”.
Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa makes the first electronic payment in Syria using a @Visa card at a store in Damascus, following the lifting of US sanctions on Syria. pic.twitter.com/lpAN7nQ6Fc
— Tech Magazine (@TechMGZN) August 27, 2026
“We are excited to have successfully tested live transactions today as we plan to enable international visitors to use their Visa cards while in Syria,” says Leila Serhan, Visa’s senior vice president and group country manager for the North Africa, Levant and Pakistan region. Although a significant first step, that plan doesn’t come with a hard date for when a visitor’s card will work normally.
Mohammed Safwat Raslan, governor of the Central Bank of Syria, says the test paves the way for international card acceptance in Syria and that maintaining strong compliance, risk management and operational controls will remain essential. Serhan likewise stresses that Visa has worked within applicable legal, regulatory and compliance requirements. For a test transaction, it seems there was a great deal of attention paid to the rules, with the entire operation being carefully managed.
Also Read: Lebanon’s 5G Era Begins With 150 Stations And A $1M Budget
The test is the latest step in a sequence that began in December 2025, when Visa announced a strategic roadmap to support Syria’s integration into the global digital economy. In February 2026 it hosted its first industry gathering of banks, ecosystem partners and policymakers in Damascus and, the same month, signed an agreement with Syria’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology in San Francisco.
Michel Kattouah, Paymera’s CEO, called the test “the return of international card acceptance,” but while that’s positive news, there’s no word yet on when a Syrian bank will issue a Visa card to a Syrian customer.
Visa’s Return To Syria Starts With A Test And A Bank In Lebanon
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