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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.
News
Samsung And Spotify Offer Free Premium Deal In MENA
Nearly seven in ten streams in the region come from 18-to-34-year-olds — the audience Samsung is hoping to entice into its ecosystem.
Samsung has announced a partnership with Spotify spanning the Middle East, North Africa, and Türkiye, bundling Spotify Premium with select devices across its ecosystem. The headline offer — up to four months of Premium for free — is a first for the region.
Customers in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Türkiye who buy any OLED or 98-inch television, or any Galaxy S or Z series mobile device, get four months of Spotify Premium. The offer, tiered by market and device, is available at retail and on Samsung.com, and redeemed through the Samsung Promotion and Samsung Members apps.
For Samsung, the strategy is less about free music than about lock-in. The Korean tech giant’s pitch is continuity: a track starts on a Galaxy smartphone through Galaxy Buds on the commute, moves to a Samsung TV and soundbar in the living room, and stays controllable from a Galaxy Watch. The more seamlessly music travels between those devices, the harder it becomes to swap any one of them for a rival’s.
“Technology should bring people closer to the things they love, and few things connect people the way music does,” said Omar Saheb, Regional VP of Marketing and Online Business at Samsung Electronics MENA. The partnership, he added, gives customers “a genuine reason to choose Samsung for the experience, not only the product”.
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For subscribers, Premium brings the usual package: ad-free listening, offline downloads, richer audio quality on Galaxy Buds and Samsung sound devices, and Jam, which lets friends build a shared queue.
“At Spotify, we are always working to make every listening moment feel more personal, meaningful, and worth it,” said Rami Jamal, Head of Partnerships at Spotify for South Asia, Middle East, and Africa.
The demographics go a long way to explaining the strategy. Across MENA, Türkiye, and Pakistan, nearly seven in ten Spotify streams come from listeners aged 18 to 34, according to the company — precisely the audience Samsung wants inside its hardware ecosystem before buying habits harden.
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