Microsoft Edge


Microsoft Edge is a web browser developed by Microsoft. It was first released for Windows 10 and Xbox One in 2015, then for Android and iOS in 2017, and for macOS in 2019.
Edge includes integration with Cortana and has extensions hosted on the Microsoft Store. Unlike Internet Explorer, Edge does not support the legacy ActiveX and BHO technologies.
Originally built with Microsoft's own proprietary browser engine EdgeHTML and their Chakra JavaScript engine, Edge was rebuilt as a Chromium-based browser in 2019, using the Blink and V8 engines. As part of this change, Microsoft made preview builds of Edge available on Windows 7, 8, 8.1, and macOS, in addition to Windows 10. The first public release followed on January 15, 2020. In June 2020, Microsoft began automatic rollout of Edge via Windows Update for Windows 7, 8.1, and all Windows 10 versions from version 1803 to version 2004.

Features

Microsoft Edge is the default web browser on Windows 10, Windows 10 Mobile and Xbox One consoles, replacing Internet Explorer 11 and Internet Explorer Mobile. As its development and release is dependent on the model of Windows as a service, it is not included in Windows 10 Enterprise Long-Term Servicing Channel builds.
Microsoft initially announced that Edge would support the legacy Trident layout engine for backwards compatibility, but later said that, due to "strong feedback," Edge would use a new engine, while Internet Explorer would continue to provide the legacy engine.
Favorites, reading list, browsing history and downloads are viewed at the Hub, a sidebar providing functionality similar to Internet Explorer's Downloads manager and Favorites Center.
The browser includes an integrated Adobe Flash Player and a PDF reader. It also supports asm.js.
Edge does not support legacy technologies such as ActiveX and Browser Helper Objects, instead it uses an extension system.
Internet Explorer 11 remains available alongside Edge on Windows 10 for compatibility; it remains identical to the Windows 8.1 version and does not use the Edge engine as was previously announced.
Edge integrates with Microsoft's online platforms to provide voice control, search functionality and dynamic information related to searches within the address bar. Users can make annotations to web pages that can be stored to and shared with OneDrive, and can save HTML and MHTML pages to their computers. It also integrates with the "Reading List" function and provides a "Reading Mode" that strips unnecessary formatting from pages to improve their legibility.
Preliminary support for browser extensions was added in March 2016, with build 14291, three extensions were initially supported. Microsoft indicated that the delay in allowing extensions and the small number was due to security concerns.

EdgeHTML

was the proprietary layout engine originally developed for Edge. It was a fork of Trident which removed all legacy code of older versions of Internet Explorer, with the majority of its source code rewritten to support web standards and interoperability with other modern browsers. EdgeHTML was written in C++.
The rendering engine was first released as an experimental option in Internet Explorer 11 as part of the Windows 10 Preview 9926 build.
EdgeHTML was meant to be fully compatible with the WebKit layout engine used by Safari, Chrome and other browsers. Microsoft stated their original acceptance criteria: "Any Edge–WebKit differences are bugs that we’re interested in fixing."
A review of the engine in the beta Windows 10 build by AnandTech found substantial benchmark improvements over Trident, particularly JavaScript engine performance, which had come up to par with that of Google Chrome. Other benchmarks focusing on the performance of the WebGL API found EdgeHTML to perform much better than Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox.

HTML5 standards

Edge originally lacked support for open media standards such as WebM and Opus, but these were later added in Edge 14.14291. The EdgeHTML version of Microsoft Edge remains installed for compatibility reasons, but Windows will hide it.
, Edge 80 had scored 531/555 on HTML5test.

Release strategy

Edge was launched tied to the Windows 10 release cycle and used the Windows Insider Program to preview new versions of the browser. These pre-release builds were known as "Edge Preview." Every major release of Windows included an updated version of Edge and its render engine.
On April 8, 2019, Microsoft announced the introduction of four preview channels: Canary, Dev, Beta, and Stable and launched the Canary and Dev channel that same day with the first preview builds off the new Edge. Microsoft collectively calls the Canary, Dev, and Beta channels the "Microsoft Edge Insider Channels." As a result, Edge updates were decoupled from new versions of Windows.

Development

Spartan (2014–2019)

In December 2014, writing for ZDNet, technology writer Mary Jo Foley reported that Microsoft was developing a new web browser codenamed "Spartan" for Windows 10. She said that "Spartan" would be treated as a new product separate from Internet Explorer, with Internet Explorer 11 retained alongside it for compatibility.
In early January 2015, The Verge obtained further details surrounding "Spartan" from sources close to Microsoft, including reports that it would replace Internet Explorer on both the desktop and mobile versions of Windows 10. Microsoft officially unveiled "Spartan" during a Windows 10-focused keynote on January 21, 2015. It was described as a separate product from Internet Explorer, its final name was not announced.
"Spartan" was first made publicly available as the default browser of Windows 10 Technical Preview build 10049, released on March 30, 2015. The new engine used by "Spartan" was available in Windows 10 builds as part of Internet Explorer 11, Microsoft later announced that Internet Explorer would be deprecated on Windows 10 and would not use the "Spartan" engine.
On April 29, 2015, during the Build Conference keynote, it was announced that "Spartan" would officially be known as Microsoft Edge. The browser's logo and branding were designed to maintain continuity with the branding of Internet Explorer. The Project "Spartan" branding was used in versions released after Build 2015. On June 25, 2015, Microsoft released version 19.10149 for Windows 10 Mobile which included the new brand. On June 28, 2015, version 20.10158 followed for the desktop versions, also including the updated branding. On July 15, 2015, Microsoft released version 20.10240 as the final release to Insiders. The same version was rolled out to consumers on July 29, 2015.
On August 12, 2015, Microsoft started the preview program for the next version of Microsoft Edge. They released version 20.10512 to Mobile users. 6 days later followed by version 20.10525 for desktop users. The preview received multiple updates. On November 5, 2015, Microsoft released version 25.10586 as the final release for Edge's second public release for desktop users. On November 12, the update was rolled out to both desktop users and Xbox One users as part of the New Xbox Experience Update. On November 18, 2015, the update was to Windows 10 Mobile. Finally, on November 19, 2015, the update was also made available as part of the Windows Server 2016 Technical Preview 4.
In November 2017, Microsoft released ports of Edge for Android and iOS. The apps feature integration and synchronization with the desktop version on Windows 10 PCs. Due to platform restrictions and other factors, these ports do not use the same layout engine as the desktop version and instead use OS-native Webkit-based engines.
In April 2018, Edge added tab audio muting. In June 2018, support for the Web Authentication specifications were added to Windows Insider builds, with support for Windows Hello and external security tokens.

Anaheim (2019–present)

On December 6, 2018, Microsoft announced its intent to base Edge on the Chromium source code, using the same rendering engine as Google Chrome but with enhancements developed by Microsoft. It was also announced that there will be versions of Edge available for Windows 7, Windows 8 and macOS, plus that all versions will be updated on a more frequent basis.
On April 8, 2019, the first of the new Edge for Windows were released to the public.
On May 20, 2019, the first preview builds of Edge for macOS were released to the public, marking the first time in 13 years that a Microsoft browser was available on the Mac platform. The last time a Microsoft browser was available on the Mac platform was Microsoft Internet Explorer for Mac, which was withdrawn in January 2006.
On June 18, 2019 IAmA post on Reddit, an Edge developer stated that it was theoretically possible for a Linux version to be developed in the future, but no work had actually started on that possibility.
On June 19, 2019, Microsoft made Edge available on both Windows 7 and Windows 8 for testing.
On August 20, 2019, Microsoft made its first beta build of Edge available. The beta marks a major milestone, as it is the final stage before the stable version is available. The beta is available for Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10 and macOS.
August 2019 also saw the removal of support for the EPUB file format. At Microsoft Ignite, Microsoft released an updated version of the Edge logo.
The new Edge was released on January 15, 2020.
Support for the new Edge on Windows 7 will end in July 2021.

Release history

VersionBrowser engineRelease dateHighlights
EdgeHTML 12.10240July 15, 2015
First public release, initial release for PC
  • Support for PDFs
  • Pinnable Hub with Favorites, Download manager, Reading List and History
  • New Tab page with MSN news and search bar
  • Support for inking on webpages
  • Cortana Integration
  • Reading View
  • Dark theme
  • Performance improvements
EdgeHTML 13.10586November 5, 2015Initial release on Windows 10 Mobile and Xbox One
  • Improved render engine with Pointer Lock support, canvas blending modes, asm.js support by default and more
  • Object RTC API
  • Improved tab management
  • Tabs can now be previewed by hovering over them
  • Reading list items and favorites are now synced
  • Updated Settings pane
  • Hub options are now available in the ellipses menu
  • Media Casting
  • Cortana Integration with PDFs
EdgeHTML 14.14393August 2, 2016Initial release on Windows Holographic
  • Experimental support for VP9
  • Context menu for navigation buttons
  • Improved favorites management
  • Improved download management
  • Pinned tab support added
  • Ability to copy and paste links in Microsoft Edge added
  • Download reminders
  • Default save locations can be changed
  • Favorite Tree View improvements
  • Experimental JavaScript ES6 Regex symbols support
  • New Web Platform features
  • Improved F12 developer tools
  • Improved accessibility
  • Swipe gestures to navigate back and forward
  • Support for Beacon, Web Notifications and Fetch API
  • Official support for browser extensions
  • WOFF 2 fonts
  • Support for Color Fonts formats
EdgeHTML 15.15063April 11, 2017
  • Added CTRL + O keyboard shortcut to set focus to the address bar
  • Partial implementation of Webkit-Text-Stroke and CSS outline-offset
  • Ability to use Snooze to put a website in a Cortana Reminder to make it show up in the Action Center
  • Ability to import and export favorites from and to a file
  • Improved ES6 Modules debugging in F12 Developer Tools
  • H.264/AVC became enabled by default for RTC
  • Support for WebRTC 1.0 and Service Workers
  • Added support for the EPUB file format
  • The "Snooze" feature has been removed
  • Icons of pages in the hub became larger
  • Console filter settings will persist for buttons and context menu
  • Support for the Brotli compressed data format as an HTTP content-encoding method
  • Updated the MS-prefixed FIDO 2.0 implementation to match the latest W3C Web Authentication specification
  • Partial support for CSS Custom Properties
  • Preliminary support for the IntersectionObserver API
  • Async/await is enabled by default
  • DOM performance improvements
  • Advanced Tab Management
  • Added support for EPUB/PDF read aloud
  • EdgeHTML 16.16299September 26, 2017
  • WebAssembly now enabled by default
  • EdgeHTML 17.17134April 30, 2018
  • Support for Progressive Web Apps
  • CSS transforms on SVG elements
  • Support for Notification API
  • EdgeHTML 18.17763November 13, 2018
  • Support for Autoplay Policies
  • CSS Masking, overflow-wrap and overscroll-behavior support
  • Improvements to Developer Tools
  • WebP image format support
  • Web Authentication API support
  • High-quality kerning pairs and ligatures
  • Promise.prototype.finally support
  • Remove support for e-books that use the EPUB
  • EdgeHTML 18.18362May 21, 2019
  • Support for Autoplay Policies
  • CSS Masking, overflow-wrap and overscroll-behavior support
  • Improvements to Developer Tools
  • WebP image format support
  • Web Authentication API support
  • High-quality kerning pairs and ligatures
  • Promise.prototype.finally support
  • Remove support for e-books that use the EPUB
  • EdgeHTML 18.18363November 12, 2019
  • Support for Autoplay Policies
  • CSS Masking, overflow-wrap and overscroll-behavior support
  • Improvements to Developer Tools
  • WebP image format support
  • Web Authentication API support
  • High-quality kerning pairs and ligatures
  • Promise.prototype.finally support
  • Remove support for e-books that use the EPUB
  • EdgeHTML 18.19041May 27, 2020
  • Support for Autoplay Policies
  • CSS Masking, overflow-wrap and overscroll-behavior support
  • Improvements to Developer Tools
  • WebP image format support
  • Web Authentication API support
  • High-quality kerning pairs and ligatures
  • Promise.prototype.finally support
  • Remove support for e-books that use the EPUB
  • Blink 79January 15, 2020Initial release of the Chromium-based version
    Blink 80February 7, 2020
  • Added native support for ARM processors
  • The address bar now shows when a website is using the microphone and camera
  • Added warnings for potentially dangerous downloads
  • Extensions will now show their publisher
  • Added support for restoring sessions of websites that have been installed as apps after an update or crash
  • Added an option to the context menu to sort favourite folders by name
  • Added a new setting to always use Strict Tracking Prevention inside InPrivate windows
  • Extensions that influence the browser's appearance can now be installed from the Chrome Web Store
  • Added support for importing Firefox browser history
  • Blink 81April 13, 2020
  • Added keyboard shortcuts to access Read Aloud and Immersive Reader
  • Added the option to hide the Collections button
  • Improved favorites management with tools to remove duplicate favorites
  • A message will show when another app installs an extension within Microsoft Edge
  • Added support for Windows built-in spellchecker
  • Added support for using cards that have been saved in MSPay to be used on webpages
  • Added support for Dolby Vision
  • Added support for Microsoft Information Protection-enabled PDFs
  • Added 3D viewer in the F12 Developer Tools
  • Added a setting to enable or disable automatic profile switching
  • A dialog shows whenever a new data type is available to sync
  • The InPrivate button now uses a blue background
  • PDF Improvements:
  • * Added support for highlighting text in a PDF
  • * Added support for web-optimized PDFs that are downloaded on page at a time as they are being viewed
  • Added a page to settings informing users on how to install Microsoft Edge on their smartphone
  • Blink 83May 21, 2020
  • Future updates will roll out gradually to protect users from accidental buggy updates
  • Improvements to Microsoft Defender SmartScreen
  • Added the ability to exempt certain cookies from automatically clearing when the browser closes
  • Added Automatic Profile Switching
  • Collections improvements:
  • * The user can now drag and drop to add an item to a collection without opening the collection
  • ** During the drag and drop users can choose a location in the collection list where they want to put the item
  • * Users can now add multiple items to a collection at once
  • * Users can add all tabs in an Edge window into a new collection without adding them individually
  • Extension synchronisation available. Extensions from both the Microsoft and Chrome Stores will synchronise with Microsoft Edge on all the user's devices.
  • Improved message on the Downloads management page for insecure downloads that have been blocked
  • Immersive Reader improvements:
  • * Added support for Adverbs in the Parts of Speech experience in Immersive Reader
  • * Added the ability to select any content on a webpage and open it in Immersive Reader. This enables users to use the Immersive Reader and all the Learning Tools, such as Line Focus and Read Aloud, across all websites
  • Link doctor provides host correction and a search query to users when they mistype a URL
  • Allowed users to save their decision to launch an external protocol for a specific site
  • Users can set Microsoft Edge as their default browser directly from Microsoft Edge Settings, instead of having to search through the operating system settings
  • Several DevTools updates, including new remote debugging support, UI improvements and more
  • MCAS warn scenario is now available
  • Blink 84July 16, 2020
  • Reduced download delay for Internet Explorer mode site list to 0 seconds in the absence of a cached site list
  • * Also added group policy support for cases when Internet Explorer mode home page navigations needs to be delayed until the site list is downloaded. For more information, see the DelayNavigationsForInitialSiteListDownload policy
  • Allowed users to sign into the browser when Microsoft Edge is “run as administrator” on Windows 10. This will help customers running Microsoft Edge on Windows server or in remote-desktop and sandbox scenarios
  • Added full mouse support when in full screen mode. You can now use your mouse to access tabs, the address bar and other items without having to exit full screen mode
  • Added a custom nickname option to saved debit or credit cards, making it easier to distinguish and differentiate cards when making online purchases. Nicknaming cards lets you choose the correct card when using autofill to select a payment method
  • TLS/1.0 and TLS/1.1 are disabled by default
  • * To help discover impacted sites, you can set the edge://flags/#display-legacy-tls-warnings flag to cause Microsoft Edge to display a non-blocking “Not Secure” notice when loading pages that require legacy TLS protocols. The SSLVersionMin policy permits re-enabling of TLS/1.0 and TLS/1.1. This policy will remain available until at least Microsoft Edge version 88
  • Collections improvements:
  • * Added a note capability allowing you to add a note or comment to an item in a collection
  • ** Notes are grouped together and stay attached to an item even if items in a collection are sorted. To try this new feature, right-click on an item and select “Add note”
  • * Added background color of notes in collections. Color coding can help organize information and increase productivity
  • * Performance improvements:
  • ** Exporting collections to Excel in less time than in previous versions of Microsoft Edge
  • Additional Microsoft Edge API support:
  • * The Storage Access API
  • ** This API allows access to first-party storage in a third-party context when a user provides a direct intent to allow storage that would otherwise be blocked by the browser’s current configuration
  • *** As privacy becomes increasingly important to users, requests for stricter browser defaults and user opt-in settings are increasingly common. While these settings help improve privacy and block unwanted access by unknown or untrusted parties, they can have unwanted side effects such as blocking access to content the user may want to view
  • * The Native File System API
  • ** This means sites can be given permission to edit files or folders via the Native File System API
  • PDF improvements:
  • * Added Read Aloud for PDF
  • * Improved PDF editing:
  • ** When saving an edit made to a PDF it can be sent back to the original file instead of a copy
  • * Added an option to translate in Immersive Reader.
  • * DevTools now supports customizing keyboard shortcuts to match any editor/IDE, which includes VS Code
  • Blink 84July 23, 2020Fixed various bugs and performance issues
    Blink 84Approx. Every Six WeeksCurrent Beta channel
    Blink 85Approx. Every WeekCurrent Dev channel
    Blink 86Approx. Every DayCurrent Canary channel

    Performance

    Early benchmarks of the EdgeHTML engine—included in the first beta release of Edge in Windows 10 Build 10049—had drastically better JavaScript performance than Trident 7 in Internet Explorer 11, with similar performance to Google Chrome 41 and Mozilla Firefox 37. In the SunSpider benchmark, Edge performed faster than other browsers, while in other benchmarks it operated slower than Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Opera.
    Later benchmarks conducted with the version included in 10122 showed significant performance improvement compared to both IE11 and Edge back in 10049. According to Microsoft's benchmark result, this iteration of Edge performed better than both Chrome and Firefox in Google's Octane 2.0 and Apple's Jetstream benchmark.
    In July 2015, Edge scored 377 out of 555 points on the HTML5test. Chrome 44 and Firefox 42 scored 479 and 434 respectively, while Internet Explorer 11 scored 312.
    In August 2015, Microsoft released Windows 10 Build 10532 to insiders, which included Edge 21.10532.0. This beta version scored 445 out of 555 points on the HTML5test.
    With the release of Windows 10 Build 14390 to insiders in July 2016, the HTML5test score of the browser's development version was 460 out of 555 points. Chrome 51 scored 497, Firefox 47 scored 456 and Safari 9.1 scored 370.

    Power efficiency

    In June 2016, Microsoft published benchmark results to prove superior power efficiency of Edge in comparison to all other major web browsers. Opera questioned the accuracy and provided their own test results where Opera came out on top. Independent testing by PC World confirmed Microsoft's results. However, tests conducted by Linus Sebastian contradicted Microsoft's results, instead showing that Chrome has the best battery performance.

    Reception

    In an August 2015 review of Windows 10 by Dan Grabham of TechRadar, Microsoft Edge was praised for its performance, despite not being in a feature-complete state at launch. Andrew Cunningham of Ars Technica praised the browser for being "tremendously promising" and "a much better browser than Internet Explorer ever was" but criticized it for its lack of functionality on launch. Thom Holwerda of OSNews criticized Edge in August 2015 for its hidden URL bar, lack of user friendliness, poor design and a tab system that is "so utterly broken it should never have shipped in a final release". He described the browser's implemented features as "some sort of cosmic joke", saying that "infuriating doesn't even begin to describe it."
    Data from August 2015, a few weeks after release, showed that user uptake of Edge was low, with only 2% of overall computer users using the new browser. Among Windows 10 users usage peaked at 20% and then dropped to 14% through August 2015.
    In October 2015, a security researcher published a report outlining a bug in Edge's "InPrivate" mode, causing data related to visited sites to still be cached in the user's profile directory, theoretically making it possible for others to determine sites visited. The bug gained mainstream attention in early February 2016, and was fixed with a cumulative update on February 9, 2016.
    Microsoft's switch to Blink as Edge's engine has faced mixed reception. The move increases consistency of web platform compatibility between major browsers. For this reason, the move has attracted criticism, as it reduces diversity in the overall web browser market and increases the influence of Google on the overall browser market by Microsoft ceding its independently developed browser engine.
    According to Douglas J Leith, a computer science professor from the Trinity College of Dublin, Ireland, Microsoft Edge is the least private browser. In response, a spokesperson from Microsoft Edge explained that it uses user diagnostic data to improve the product.
    In June 2020, users criticized newly released Windows 10 and Windows 7 updates that installed Edge and imported some user data from Chrome and Firefox prior to obtaining user permission. Microsoft responded stating that if a user rejects giving Edge data import permission, then Edge will delete the imported data. However, if the browser crashes before the user has a chance to reject the import, then the already imported data will not be cleared. The Verge called these "spyware tactics" and called Edge's "first run experience" a "dark pattern".

    Market share

    According to StatCounter, in August 2019 Edge overtook the market share of Internet Explorer on PC, Edge in fourth place and IE in fifth. While IE's share dropped, no single version of Edge is more popular than Internet Explorer 11. The market share for Edge remains low, with IE following in this trend. Mobile versions of Edge exist for Android and iOS, however they have little to no market share. On Microsoft consoles, Edge replaced IE as the dominant browser a few months after its release in 2015. Market share varies by region. On some days of the week, Edge takes second place with a 10.02% share in the US on PC, and Firefox and Edge have very similar share globally, switch places for second and third rank depending on the day.
    For example in March 2020, Edge ranked the second with market share of 7.59%, overtaking Firefox, which had 7.19% of market share.