How long can IE.au3 be used for?

[cdeb]

I have a doubt, I have many scripts that work with IE.au3 and many others I will have to create, but the doubt arises ...

Since Internet Explorer will stop being supported, is there a risk that in the near future, maybe not too far away, IE.au3 will no longer be supported?

Maybe with the release of a new operating system, or the abandonment of Internet explorer.

I am considering using other tools ( FF UDF / IUIAutomation / imacro / etc) but the habit and ease of use of IE.au3 is difficult to give up.

In your opinion, how long it can be used without problems.

Hi

[JLogan3o13]

Well, yes if IE goes away then a script that manipulates IE will cease to work. I am not sure anyone here has a crystal ball that is going to tell you exactly how long IE will still be available on the computers on which you run your scripts. Best to make a move to a more standards-based approach ahead of time instead of waiting until you're forced to do so in a panic.

 

[Nine]

Windows 7 (a major release) was launched 2009 and lasted over 12 years.  Millions of users are still using it and will continue using it for a number of years.

Windows 10 (a major release) was launched in 2015 and IE is still available under that platform.  So you can expect Win10 to be here for quite a few years with IE in it. 

But some Web sites start refusing an IE connection.  I think this is key.  Unless the Web site you have automated will in a short term unsuport IE, then you should definitely move on to WebDriver.  If you have some control over the Web site in question, and you have invested quite a large effort to develop your script, then I wouldn't personally start reprogramming everything now.  I would make my priority over an area of the company which requires immediate automation.

But I agree panic is never a good thing.

[pseakins]

It depends what you mean by "support". Support, to me, means that a vendor will continue to fix bugs found in the software. When they withdraw support it just means that they will no longer provide bug fixes. However, the software will continue to work and if you never encounter a bug then it doesn't require "support". 

I run Quicken 7 on my Windows 7 PC. According to its help-about It was "Created for Windows 95" and is copyright 1997. It still runs fine, I have transactions going back to 1/4/1997 and it has never, ever had a crash resulting in a corrupted database in those 23 years. Well written software doesn't need support.

W7 is now "unsupported". Whenever I installed a new Windows 7 partition the first thing I did was disable updates as I never needed them anyway. The updates were only ever to fix security issues, usually in IE which I knew you should never, ever use. As a retired Anti Virus programmer I have found the best security measure is simply to practise "safe hex".

However, as @Ninesays, some web sites may refuse an IE connection. If you insist on using IE you should start planning.