Microsoft rigorously changes their support policies for Internet Explorer it seems.
After January 12, 2016, only the most recent version of Internet Explorer available for a supported operating system will receive technical support and security updates. For example, customers using Internet Explorer 8, Internet Explorer 9, or Internet Explorer 10 on Windows 7 SP1 should migrate to Internet Explorer 11 to continue receiving security updates and technical support. For more details regarding support timelines on Windows and Windows Embedded, see the Microsoft Support Lifecycle site.
This is pretty drastic. Until today IE8 would be supported until the supporting platform (e.g. Windows 7) would be no longer supported in either mainstream or extended fashion. This means that in less 17 months IE8 support is no longer (read: security updates) available. That said, Windows 7 will move into extended support per 1st of January next year too… Extended support for 5 more years. With Windows 9 on the horizon Microsoft’s focus is to move customers in a much faster pace away from Windows 7.
