As is seemingly the way these days with web browser news, it's all change this week with Microsoft 365 dropping Internet Explorer 11 support in the next few days, Microsoft Edge benefiting from improved PDF support, and even Apple getting in on the act with some tweaks to its controversial Safari redesign in the latest iPadOS 15 beta. Phew. Let's take a look at it all.
In a continuing move from Microsoft to cut Internet Explorer 11 out of the picture, thereby encouraging us all to switch over to Microsoft Edge (or one of the other best web browsers available), Microsoft has warned customers that the apps and services which make up Microsoft 365 will no longer support Internet Explorer 11 from August 17. That gives users a couple of weeks to find a new browser which they probably should have already done by now, although there is a tiny glimmer of hope for the determined souls hanging on.
Microsoft has said the service will still work. Just about. But that users may experience connection failures or a degraded user experience. Simply put, it's time to give up on Internet Explorer 11. If you have one of the best home computers or the best laptops, it's really time to also switch browsers. Even if your system is ageing, you'll do far better with one of the latest browsers such as Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge.
And on that note, Microsoft Edge just got a little better too courtesy of a new upgrade to how it handles PDFs. Users can now highlight sections on PDFs that they may not have been given access to comment on, as well as scanned documents. It's an improved markup experience for all and sure to come in handy. Alongside that, there are also improvements to how you can scroll and navigate through such documents using thumbnails with the clickable images displaying in the pane on the left side of the PDF reader. There's also now support for 'free text boxes' allowing users to add a freeform text box to a document wherever they need to.
Finally, if you're a fan of one of the best tablets - the iPad - you might be keeping an eye on the latest iPadOS 15 beta. The beta introduced a 'compact' tab experience to the redesigned Safari and it has been very popular. Since then, the more traditional separate row of tabs has been reintroduced with the option for more compact tabs available via the Settings app. That should prove to be the best of both worlds, depending on your tastes.
