It should be changed if for no other reason than because it hasn’t been supported by Microsoft for almost a year. Which, to me, translates to it being a virus vulnerability to your PC.
Does the game auto-switch to a different login app if Internet Explorer (IE) doesn’t exist? (The post directly above indicates that isn’t the case, unfortunately)
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Yep, I asked Bing, “is internet explorer vulnerable” and the predominant results say, “Yes”, with links to some websites:
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I know that doesn’t mean 100% it’s risky to still have it on your PC if you never really open it or browse the Internet with it, but I can only go from what past history on outdated apps and such has taught me, where devs often say they are stopping security patch updates, and to upgrade to/use newer versions. I’m pretty sure the mere presence of it on one’s system is likely a risk that could be maliciously exploited. Thanks for finding my thread! Too bad it took a few years to get a reply from someone 
I didn’t want to bring up the vulnerability part a few years ago and raise unnecessary alarm, but I knew it was just a relatively short matter of time before IE stopped being supported. The vulnerability aspect was on my mind because MS Edge had been out a while and seemed to be ‘the future’. Removing support and halting security updates is what has happened to several past Microsoft operating systems/software packages once they’ve been out a long time and are slowly fading away, including some MS Office apps. IE got retired as of June 15, 2022, I think it is okay to re-raise the concern?
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Like I said in my OP, I was surprised IE was even installed on my Win10 PC, as I thought it had been gone for years. And am surprised no Win10 OS update/patch has auto-removed it or asked me to remove it since the date in which it was retired. Seems like a vulnerability lying dormant just waiting to be exploited? I shall uninstall it now. (Update: Done.)
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If anyone is curious to uninstall it, just know it’s hiding under the “Optional Features” link found in the Add or remove programs area. Don’t ask me why it is called a “feature” IMPORTANT NOTE: If uninstalling IE happens to break your ability to log into Xbox Live, use AoE2:DE, and/or claim rewards from events (as @ZinStonehead mentions above), or affect any other program on your PC, then my apologies. Uninstall IE at your own risk!
- For me, it’s a low risk since I don’t play AoE2:DE much these days. Probably won’t again until some new stuff other than civs and campaigns comes out, or I get a nostalgic urge to play it. The event rewards were never serious enough for me, so I lost the zeal to do them. (That thread has some nice ideas for event reward variety and other stuff, by the way) So, I don’t know from personal experience if there are or will be any ill effects on AoE’s functionality
