Salesforce Ends Support for Internet Explorer 7 and 8
Starting in June, Salesforce will end support for Internet Explorer 7 and 8 as part of the Summer ’15 release.
What does this mean for you and your Salesforce users?
Some of the new and/or existing features and functionalities might not work in IE7 and IE8. You may also encounter bugs or performance issues, and these will not be investigated or fixed by Salesforce after support has officially ended.
What should you do now?
If you are an administrator, you should:
- Alert your users of this change
- Monitor who is using IE7 and IE8 when accessing your org (see instructions below)
- Encourage your teams to use the following browsers instead:
– Internet Explorer 10 or 11
– Mozilla Firefox, most recent and stable version
– Google Chrome, most recent and stable version
To see what browsers are being used at the point of login, go to:
Administration Set Up>Manage Users>Login History.
Then change the File Contents to be “Website Logins Only” using the drop-down menu. Then download the report; you will receive a CSV file. Every login record will display what browser each user logged in from.
Alternatively, you can run an administrative report in Salesforce on your users, and then filter by browser.
If any of your users bemoan the changes, you can share with them the many reasons why no one should be using an out-dated browser:
1) Older browsers aren’t compliant with HTML5
This isn’t just for web developers; without HTML5 you wouldn’t not be able to open your Angry Birds game on your iPhone during your morning tube commute, and then continue playing the same game on your desktop computer while your boss is in a meeting. HTML5 enables web apps that can run in a browser on any device.
2) Older browsers are less secure
Internet Explorer has a bad reputation for security, but that’s mostly a legacy stigma from older versions. Microsoft has stepped up its game with the more recent versions of IE (10 or higher). According to a test run by NSS labs in 2014, IE had the highest malware detection rate out of all the mainstream browsers (when tested in Windows 8.1 Enterprise).
Security is a broad term, and includes a lot of factors: malware detection, firewalls, scripts, cookies, etc. For example, Mozilla Firefox ranked very low in the NSS Labs test for malware detection, but it is an open-source browser, which means that every user can view its programming code for any hidden threats.
But most of us aren’t coders, so we need a browser that has built-in, user-friendly security features. Google Chrome and the latest versions if IE are generally good options for the lay-person in terms of security.
3) New browsers offer more privacy
As our lives become more and more visible online (not just social media. Think about online banking, shopping, job applications, cloud storage, etc.), privacy is increasingly more important when choosing a web browser. As is the case with security, the most updated versions of browsers usually offer the most privacy options.
Mozilla Firefox is definitely the most private of the mainstream browsers, being that it is open-source and is the product of a non-profit organization. Unlike IE and Chrome, which are propriety products of Microsoft and Google.
The rule of thumb is to never assume that your browser is completely secure and private. Each browser has its own unique combination of strengths and weaknesses. You can compare and contrast browsers based on your needs and you should always practice safe browsing behaviours, such as:
- Clearing cookies and history on a regular basis
- Only input sensitive information (credit cards, addresses, etc.) into secure sites with https:// in the domain (as opposed to http://).
- When in doubt, don’t click it. If a link, button, site, or ad looks malicious then it probably is. If you aren’t sure, just avoid it.
- Only connect to trusted Internet networks, especially when using Wi-Fi.
Changes like this can be a disruption in our familiar routine. But the decision by Salesforce to end support for IE7 and IE8 signifies that the platform is future-facing; as web technology changes, so will Salesforce.
-The Pracedo Team