Microsoft Edge

Microsoft Edge is a proprietary, cross-platform web browser created by Microsoft. It was first released in 2015 as part of Windows 10 and Xbox One and later ported to other platforms as a fork of Google's Chromium open-source project: Android and iOS, macOS, older Windows versions (Windows 7 and later), and most recently Linux. It was created as the successor to Internet Explorer (IE).

Edge was initially built with Microsoft's own proprietary browser engine, EdgeHTML, and their Chakra JavaScript engine. In late 2018, it was announced that Edge would be completely rebuilt as a Chromium-based browser with Blink and V8 engines. The new Edge was publicly released in January 2020, and on Xbox platforms in 2021. Microsoft has since terminated security support for the original browser (now referred to as Microsoft Edge Legacy), and in Windows 11 it is the default web browser (for compatibility with Google Chrome).

In May 2022, according to StatCounter, Microsoft Edge became the second most popular browser in the world, overtaking Apple's Safari (in some countries, such as the United States, Edge is the 3rd most popular, where it has a 14% share, slightly behind Safari's 16% share). , Edge is used by 11 percent of PCs worldwide.

Features

Microsoft Edge is the default web browser on Windows 10, Windows 10 Mobile, Windows 11, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X and Series S 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 (LTSC) builds.

Microsoft initially announced that Edge would support the legacy MSHTML (Trident) browser 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. The developer toolset of the EdgeHTML-based versions featured an option to emulate the rendering behaviour ("document mode") of Internet Explorer versions 5 to 11.

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.

Edge features a built-in PDF reader, and supports WebAssembly. Until January 2021, Edge also featured an integrated Adobe Flash Player (with an internal whitelist allowing Flash applets on Facebook websites to load automatically, bypassing all other security controls requiring user activation).

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. In Windows 11, Edge became the only browser available from Microsoft. However, it includes an “Internet Explorer mode,” aimed at fixing compatibility issues.

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. Edge also has a new feature called vertical tabs which allow users to move tabs on the left side of the screen.

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.

HTML5 standards

Edge originally lacked support for open media standards such as WebM and Opus, but these were later added in Edge 14.14291.

, Edge 84 had scored 496/555 on HTML5test.

Release strategy

Microsoft Edge Legacy's release cadence was 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 channels that same day with the first preview builds, for those channels, of 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. Major versions of Edge Stable are now scheduled for release every 4 weeks, closely following Chromium version releases.

''Surf'' (video game)

In May 2020, an update to Microsoft Edge added '' Surf'', a video game where players control a surfer attempting to evade obstacles and collect powerups. Similar to Google Chrome's '' Dinosaur Game'', ''Surf'' is accessible from the browser's offline error page and can also be accessed by entering edge://surf into the address bar. The game features three game modes (classic, time trial, and slalom), has character customization, and supports keyboard, mouse, touch, and gamepad controls. Its gameplay has been compared to the 1991 Microsoft video game ''SkiFree''.

In 2021, ''Surf'' was updated with limited-time seasonal theming resembling ''SkiFree''. Instead of surfing, the player skis down a mountain while being chased by a yeti