A serious reminder to all Internet Explorer users

Microsoft is encouraging users to switch to Internet Explorer 11 and Microsoft Edge, as it pulls the plug on support for versions 8, 9 and 10 of its home-built browser.

Microsoft is releasing one last patch for Internet Explorer 8, 9 and 10 tomorrow -- along with an "End of Life" notice. From January 12 it will no longer support the older versions.

The end of life notices means that Internet Explorer won't receive any more security updates, or other patches. Those still using the browsers could in future be vulnerable to security threats and even hacks, depending on what other (if any) security software you have installed. 

The move means that only Internet Explorer 11 is still supported in the venerable chain of software. The move is part of the company's bigger plan to transition customers onto Edge -- which is currently only available on Windows 10 computers. Edge has been designed and built completely separate to Internet Explorer, but also (naturally) takes up much of the engineering capacity previously dedicated to old versions of IE.

Edge promises speed and usability that the older browser was either losing, or never had depending on how mean you want to be about Microsoft. The new browser is integrated with Cortana -- the company's virtual assistant -- it has its own reading list for saving pages and articles for later, and a doodle mode that lets you scribble on a web page. 

Microsoft announced back in August 2014 that it would end support for versions 8, 9 and 10 of Internet Explorer. 

An estimated 340 million people still run Internet Explorer, however, according to Computer World. Just under half of those are thought to be using one of the expired versions of the browser. 

The older versions of Internet Explorer will feature "nag" messages that encourage users to upgrade.