Microsoft drops IE 11 with latest Windows 10 preview
Microsoft has dropped Internet Explorer (IE) 11 from the Windows 10 preview build 21387, as part of its plan to retire the legacy browser on June 15.
Microsoft announced the end date for IE 11 last week as it transitions Windows 10 to the new Chromium-based Edge browser, which has IE mode to support business apps that still require it.
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"The Internet Explorer 11 desktop application is now retired as of this Insider Preview build," Microsoft's Windows Insider team notes in a blogpost.
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In this build, Microsoft has also turned off "eco mode" in Task Manager, an experimental feature it started testing with Windows 10 users in April. The feature allowed users to throttle processes to improve energy efficiency. Microsoft also rolled out EcoQoS, a Quality of Service (QoS) level, which gave application developers the option to boost energy efficiency and reduce fan noise and thermal throttling.
There are also several bug fixes in this Insider preview build for the Dev Channel. The last update was unexpectedly using the Times New Roman font on the welcome screen after users first signed in. Some users were also seeing errors when trying to launch Notepad via the Run dialog. Both these issues should be fixed now.
Microsoft fixed a Windows Subsystem for Linux issue that prevented some Linux GUI applications from working. It released the preview of Linux GUI apps for WSL in April, switching up WSL Linux support which was previously limited to command-line tools, utilities, and apps, but did not extend to GUI apps.
Other fixes address glitches affecting some users, such as night light immediately turning off after being enabled, errors affecting Bluetooth-connected speakers, Explorer crashes, and USB printer problems.
Insiders should see that the Windows Update page doesn't freeze after clicking Pause Updates.
It also fixed a bug causing some devices to fail with error code 0xc1900101 and another bug that was causing Windows to re-offer the .NET update after it was installed.
"After taking this build you should no longer be reoffered the .NET update. If you experience and issue getting Build 21387 because of a pending .NET update, you can work around the issue by pausing then un-pausing updates," Microsoft notes.
There are several remaining known issues in this preview. The Windows Camera app doesn't obey the default brightness setting, and elements of Search don't display correctly in dark theme. There's also a glitch affecting the news and interests widget.