Microsoft is cleaning up Internet Explorer before it switches to Edge

Even as it readies to effectively kill the brand, Microsoft is trying to make Internet Explorer a more palatable browsing option, yesterday detailing plans to crack down on misleading ads. As of June 1st, the browser will notify users with a warning when a site features an ad that contains malicious code, content that pretends to be part of the site itself, or directs them towards misleading downloads. In a blog post, Microsoft detailed its new unwanted software evaluation criteria, explaining how it determined whether ads were designed with the intention to mislead or deceive users. Internet Explorer has suffered from the increasing proliferation of ads that purport to offer Flash, Java, or PC cleaner downloads. Internet Explorer users can currently install AdBlock to avoid seeing these misleading ads, but it’s a trickier process than it is with competitors such as Google’s Chrome or Mozilla’a Firefox. The new measures — which notify users with an angry red warning page when a site does feature such an ad — prove that even as Microsoft is showing off its successor to the the beleaguered browser, it hasn’t totally forgotten about Internet Explorer just yet.