Microsoft postpones phasing out tls 1.0 and 1.1 for its browsers

Microsoft will not phase out tls 1.0 and 1.1 in the first half of this year for Edge and Internet Explorer 11, as previously announced, but in the second half of 2020. Microsoft is doing this because of the “current global conditions”.

The postponement means Microsoft will disable tls 1.0 and 1.1 with version 84 of the Chromium-based Edge browser. According to the agenda, that version would appear in July. The EdgeHTML-based version of Edge, called Edge Legacy by Microsoft, will no longer have enabled tls 1.0 and 1.1 support as of September 8. On that date, Internet Explorer 11 will also stop with tls 1.0 and 1.1.

Users can still manually activate the tls versions in the browsers, but Microsoft advises against this and encourages organizations to move away from the protocols. Tls 1.0 and 1.1 are outdated web standards that are rarely used. In 2018, browser makers announced that they would be phasing out support. In that year, the Internet Engineering Task Force announced the more secure tls 1.3. Tls 1.0 appeared more than twenty years ago.