Is it possible to install Windows 8 without Internet Explorer?

Solution 1:

You can't uninstall it completely. But if you don't like it, then you can turn it off and it will not appear.

For this you have to go through Control Panel > Programs and Features > Turn Windows Features on or off or you can type in the Windows Explorer address bar command below and the same dialog will appear:

shell:::{67718415-c450-4f3c-bf8a-b487642dc39b}  

Now find the checkbox for Internet Explorer 10, uncheck it and reboot your machine.

Note: This is not a complete uninstall of Internet Explorer (some Windows features may suffer as a result) you are just using Microsoft's way of 'Turning it off'.

In response to the OP edit:

You will not be able to run the Modern UI Internet Explorer, as you can't run the desktop version. Nothing other than that will be affected, as far as I know.

After Googling, I found something more interesting, you have to run an Elevated Command Prompt and type:

pkgmgr.exe 

A popup will appear showing the commands you can use to uninstall any packages (including IE).

Source

Solution 2:

You can remove it after installing Windows 8, you can't prevent the installation of IE AFAIK.

Follow the instructions here.

• Type appwiz.cpl in run
• When the Programs and Features window opens, you are going to want to click on the “Turn Windows features on or off” hyperlink on the left hand side.
• Next, find Internet Explore and uncheck it.
• Reboot

Both the Modern UI and Desktop versions of IE will be removed.