Jump to content

Microsoft Edge Legacy

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Microsoft Edge Legacy
Developer(s)Microsoft
Initial releaseJuly 29, 2015; 9 years ago (2015-07-29)
Final release
44.19041 with EdgeHTML 18.19041
EnginesEdgeHTML[1], Chakra
Operating systemXbox One System Software, Windows 10
Included withWindows 10, Windows 10 Mobile, Xbox One System Software
LicenseProprietary software;[2] a component of Windows 10
Websitewww.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/microsoft-edge

Microsoft Edge Legacy (or simply nicknamed Edge Legacy), originally released as simply Microsoft Edge or Edge is a discontinued proprietary cross-platform web browser created by Microsoft. Released in 2015 along with both Windows 10 and Xbox One, it was built with Microsoft's own proprietary browser engine, EdgeHTML, and their Chakra JavaScript engine.[3]

Support for Edge Legacy ended on March 9, 2021.[4]

Features

[edit]

Microsoft Edge [Legacy] was the default web browser, replacing Internet Explorer 11 and Internet Explorer Mobile.[5] As its development and release is dependent on the model of Windows as a service, it is not included in Windows Enterprise Long-Term Servicing Channel (LTSC) builds.[6][7][8]

Microsoft initially announced that Edge would support the legacy MSHTML (Trident) browser engine for backward 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.[9] The developer toolset features an option to emulate the rendering behaviour ("document mode") of Internet Explorer versions 5 to 11.[10][11]

Favorites, reading list, browsing history and downloads are viewed at the Hub,[12] a sidebar providing functionality similar to Internet Explorer's Downloads manager and Favorites Center.[13]

Edge features a built-in PDF reader,[14] 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).[15]

Edge does not support legacy technologies such as ActiveX and Browser Helper Objects, instead it uses an extension system based on the cross-browser WebExtension API.[1][16][17]

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,[18] 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.[18]

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.[19]

Release strategy

[edit]

Microsoft Edge Legacy's release cadence was tied to the Windows 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.

Development

[edit]
Project Spartan logo, used in Windows build 10049 to 10137

In December 2014, writing for ZDNet, technology writer Mary Jo Foley reported that Microsoft was developing a new web browser codenamed "Spartan". She said that "Spartan" would be treated as a new product separate from Internet Explorer, with Internet Explorer 11 retained alongside it for compatibility.[20]

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.[21] Microsoft officially unveiled "Spartan" during a Windows-focused keynote on January 21, 2015.[18] It was described as a separate product from Internet Explorer, its final name was not announced.[22]

"Spartan" was first made publicly available as the default browser of Windows 10 Technical Preview build 10049, released on March 30, 2015.[23] The new engine used by "Spartan" was available in Windows builds as part of Internet Explorer 11, Microsoft later announced that Internet Explorer would be deprecated on Windows and would not use the "Spartan" engine.[5][24]

On April 29, 2015, during the Build Conference keynote, it was announced that "Spartan" would officially be known as Microsoft Edge.[25] The browser's logo and branding were designed to maintain continuity with the branding of Internet Explorer.[26] 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, 2015, 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 Mobile. Finally, on November 19, 2015, the update was also made available as part of the Windows Server 2016 Technical Preview 4.[27]

In April 2018, Edge added tab audio muting.[28] In June 2018, support for the Web Authentication specifications were added to Windows Insider builds, with support for Windows Hello and external security tokens.[29][30]

August 2019 saw the removal of Microsoft Edge Legacy's support for the EPUB file format.[31]

Microsoft stopped supporting Microsoft Edge Legacy on March 9, 2021.[32][33] On April 13, 2021, Microsoft released a cumulative monthly security update which replaced Edge Legacy with the new Chromium-based Edge.[34]

EdgeHTML

[edit]

EdgeHTML is the proprietary browser engine developed for Edge [Legacy]. It is a fork of MSHTML (Trident) with all legacy code of older versions of Internet Explorer removed, with the majority of its source code rewritten to support web standards and interoperability with other modern browsers.[35][36] EdgeHTML is written in C++.[37]

The rendering engine was first released as an experimental option in Internet Explorer 11 as part of the Windows 10 Preview 9926 build.[38]

EdgeHTML is meant to be fully compatible with the WebKit layout engine used by Safari and other browsers. Microsoft stated their original acceptance criteria: "Any Edge–WebKit differences are bugs that we're interested in fixing."[39]

A review of the engine in the beta Windows 10 build by AnandTech found substantial benchmark improvements over MSHTML (Trident), particularly its new Chakra JavaScript engine performance, which had come up to par with that of Google Chrome.[40] Other benchmarks focusing on the performance of the WebGL API found EdgeHTML to perform much better than Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox.[41]

Edge Legacy release history

[edit]

Performance

[edit]

Early benchmarks of the EdgeHTML engine—included in the first beta release of Edge in Windows 10[56] Build 10049—had drastically better JavaScript performance due to the new Chakra than MSHTML (Trident) 7 using the older Chakra 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,[57] while in other benchmarks it operated slower than Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Opera.[58]

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.[59]

Edge originally lacked support for open media standards such as WebM and Opus, but these were later added in Edge 14.14291.[60]

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.[61]

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.[62]

In July 2016, with the release of Windows 10 Build 14390 to insiders, the HTML5 test 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.[63]

In June 2017, Edge 17 had scored 492/555 on HTML5test.[64]

Power efficiency

[edit]

In June 2016, Microsoft published benchmark results to prove the superior power efficiency of Edge in comparison to all other major web browsers.[65] Opera questioned the accuracy and provided their own test results where Opera came out on top.[66] Independent testing by PC World confirmed Microsoft's results.[67] However, tests conducted by Linus Sebastian in June 2017 instead showed that, at that time, Chrome had the best battery performance.[68]

Reception

[edit]

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.[69] 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.[70] 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".[71]

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.[72]

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,[73] and was fixed with a cumulative update on February 9, 2016.[74]

Market share

[edit]

According to StatCounter, in August 2019, Edge overtook the market share of Internet Explorer (IE) on PCs, ranking third place at 9.14%[75] and IE in sixth. On Microsoft consoles, Edge replaced IE as the dominant browser a few months after its release in 2015.[76]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Weber, Jason (January 21, 2015). "Spartan and the Windows 10 January Preview Build". IEBlog. Microsoft. Archived from the original on January 22, 2015.
  2. ^ Novet, Jordan (May 5, 2015). "Microsoft says it has no plans to open-source its new Edge browser … yet". VentureBeat. Archived from the original on September 22, 2017.
  3. ^ Microsoft (2020). "What is Microsoft Edge Legacy?". support.microsoft.com. Archived from the original on August 14, 2020. Retrieved 27 August 2020.
  4. ^ New Microsoft Edge to replace Microsoft Edge Legacy with April's Windows 10 Update Tuesday release, Microsoft, 2021-02-12, archived from the original on March 11, 2021, retrieved March 12, 2021
  5. ^ a b Warren, Tom (March 24, 2015). "Microsoft relegates Internet Explorer to a 'legacy engine' to make way for new browser". The Verge. Vox Media. Archived from the original on March 25, 2015.
  6. ^ "Overview of Windows as a service (Windows 10)". Microsoft. Archived from the original on June 16, 2017. Retrieved 2019-05-05.
  7. ^ Foley, Mary Jo. "Some Windows 10 Enterprise users won't get Microsoft's Edge browser". ZDNet. Archived from the original on June 9, 2015. Retrieved 2019-05-05.
  8. ^ Keizer, Gregg (2018-11-29). "FAQ: Windows 10 LTSB explained". Computerworld. Archived from the original on March 8, 2019. Retrieved 2019-05-05.
  9. ^ Sams, Brad (March 24, 2015). "Microsoft says IE 11 will remain unchanged from Windows 8.1, Spartan is the future". Neowin. Archived from the original on May 27, 2015.
  10. ^ Microsoft Docs (2017)
  11. ^ "nfc.usda.gov". Archived from the original on June 15, 2022. Retrieved June 15, 2022.
  12. ^ "Get to know Microsoft Edge". support.microsoft.com. Archived from the original on January 23, 2018.
  13. ^ "Favorites Center - IEBlog". blogs.msdn.microsoft.com. February 6, 2006. Archived from the original on January 29, 2018.
  14. ^ "Windows 10's New Browser Microsoft Edge: Improved, But Also New Risks". trendmicro.com. July 29, 2015. Archived from the original on September 6, 2015. Retrieved September 14, 2015.
  15. ^ Cimpanu, Catalin. "Microsoft Edge lets Facebook run Flash code behind users' backs". ZDNet. Archived from the original on December 14, 2020. Retrieved 2019-02-20.
  16. ^ Rossi, Jacob (November 11, 2014). "Living on the Edge – our next step in helping the web just work". IEBlog. Microsoft. Archived from the original on January 11, 2015.
  17. ^ Warren, Tom (January 27, 2015). "Microsoft reveals its Internet Explorer successor will support extensions". The Verge. Vox Media. Archived from the original on July 8, 2017.
  18. ^ a b c Ingraham, Nathan (January 21, 2015). "Microsoft officially announces Spartan, its new web browser for Windows 10". The Verge. Vox Media. Archived from the original on January 21, 2015.
  19. ^ Tina Sieber (March 21, 2016). "Everything You Need to Know About Microsoft Edge Browser Extensions". MakeUseOf. Archived from the original on March 22, 2016. Retrieved March 22, 2016.
  20. ^ Foley, Mary Jo (December 29, 2014). "Microsoft is building a new browser as part of its Windows 10 push". ZDNet. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on December 30, 2014.
  21. ^ Warren, Tom (January 8, 2015). "Windows 10s new browser will have the most advanced features ever". The Verge. Vox Media. Archived from the original on August 14, 2017.
  22. ^ Warren, Tom (March 17, 2015). "Microsoft is killing off the Internet Explorer brand". The Verge. Vox Media. Archived from the original on March 18, 2015.
  23. ^ "Project Spartan gets its first public outing in new Windows 10 build". Ars Technica. Condé Nast. March 30, 2015. Archived from the original on March 31, 2015. Retrieved March 30, 2015.
  24. ^ Jacobsson Purewal, Sarah (February 19, 2015). "How to enable Spartan's Edge Rendering Engine in Windows 10". CNET. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on March 13, 2015.
  25. ^ "The successor to Internet Explorer will be named Microsoft Edge". The Verge. April 29, 2015. Archived from the original on April 29, 2015. Retrieved April 29, 2015.
  26. ^ Sams, Brad (April 29, 2015). "Microsoft reveals Edge's new logo". Neowin. Neowin, LLC. Archived from the original on May 1, 2015. Retrieved May 1, 2015.
  27. ^ Foley, Mary Jo (2016-10-12). "Microsoft's Windows Server 2016 hits general availability". ZDNet. Archived from the original on 15 October 2016.
  28. ^ "Microsoft's Edge browser now lets you mute tabs". TechCrunch. April 27, 2018. Archived from the original on May 27, 2022. Retrieved 2019-04-16.
  29. ^ Sarkar; et al. (2018-05-23). "Announcing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 17682". Microsoft. Archived from the original on April 7, 2019. Retrieved 2018-06-25.
  30. ^ "Microsoft Edge now supports passwordless sign-ins". Engadget. July 31, 2018. Archived from the original on October 5, 2018. Retrieved 2019-04-16.
  31. ^ "Microsoft Edge will no longer support ePub file format for e-books". Windows Central. 2019-08-23. Archived from the original on August 3, 2020. Retrieved 2019-11-22.
  32. ^ "Microsoft Edge Classic support ends on March 9, 2021 - gHacks Tech News". www.ghacks.net. August 18, 2020. Archived from the original on September 20, 2020. Retrieved 2020-08-18.
  33. ^ Salter, Jim (2021-03-11). "Microsoft Edge is dead—long live Microsoft Edge". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on March 11, 2021. Retrieved 2021-03-11.
  34. ^ "Microsoft will uninstall its old Edge browser from Windows PCs on April 13th". Engadget. February 5, 2021. Archived from the original on February 6, 2021. Retrieved 2021-02-06.
  35. ^ "What's powering Spartan? Internet Explorer, of course". Neowin. Archived from the original on 2015-12-16.
  36. ^ Foley, Mary Jo (2015-01-22). "Microsoft's Spartan browser: What's under the hood". ZDNet. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on 2016-03-06.
  37. ^ Hachamovitch, Dean (2007-12-14), Internet Explorer 8 and Acid2: A Milestone, Microsoft, archived from the original on 2011-08-27
  38. ^ Rubino, Daniel (2015-01-25). "Here's how to enable the Spartan Edge rendering engine for IE11 in Windows 10". Windows Central. Archived from the original on 2015-01-27. Retrieved 2015-01-29.
  39. ^ "Building a more interoperable Web with Microsoft Edge". Blogs.windows.com. 2015-06-17. Archived from the original on 2017-06-30. Retrieved 2017-04-27.
  40. ^ Brett Howse (2015-01-25). "Internet Explorer Project Spartan Shows Large Performance Gains". AnandTech. Archived from the original on 2015-12-08.
  41. ^ "Benchmark Deep-Dive: Microsoft Windows 10 Spartan Browser vs. IE11 vs. Google Chrome 41 vs. Mozilla Firefox". WinBuzzer. February 9, 2015. Archived from the original on 2015-02-10. Retrieved 2015-02-09.
  42. ^ "Build 10240 now available for Windows Insiders in Fast and Slow rings". windows.com. July 15, 2015. Archived from the original on September 29, 2015.
  43. ^ "Microsoft Edge takes a wider lead against Chrome in JavaScript benchmarks". windowscentral.com. July 15, 2015. Archived from the original on November 8, 2015.
  44. ^ "Announcing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 10586". Windows Experience Blog. November 5, 2015. Archived from the original on December 8, 2015.
  45. ^ "ORTC API is now available in Microsoft Edge". Microsoft Edge Dev Blog. September 18, 2015. Archived from the original on October 9, 2015.
  46. ^ "Windows 10 build 15063". Archived from the original on January 12, 2019. Retrieved February 3, 2018.
  47. ^ "What's new in Microsoft Edge in the Windows 10 Creators Update". April 11, 2017. Archived from the original on August 20, 2018. Retrieved August 19, 2018.
  48. ^ "Microsoft Edge build 15252 changelog - Microsoft Edge Developer". Archived from the original on November 27, 2021. Retrieved November 27, 2021.
  49. ^ "Microsoft Edge build 16299 changelog - Microsoft Edge Developer". Archived from the original on October 28, 2017. Retrieved October 27, 2017.
  50. ^ "What's New in Microsoft Edge in the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update". October 17, 2017. Archived from the original on August 20, 2018. Retrieved August 19, 2018.
  51. ^ "Windows 10 build 15063". Archived from the original on August 20, 2018. Retrieved May 3, 2018.
  52. ^ "What's new in Microsoft Edge in the Windows 10 April 2018 Update". April 30, 2018. Archived from the original on August 16, 2018. Retrieved August 19, 2018.
  53. ^ mattwojo. "What's new in EdgeHTML 18 - Microsoft Edge Development". aka.ms. Archived from the original on May 27, 2022. Retrieved 2018-11-19.
  54. ^ "HTML and CSS3 support tables". caniuse.com. Archived from the original on February 19, 2018. Retrieved 2019-02-02.
  55. ^ "Download an ePub app to keep reading e-books". support.microsoft.com. Archived from the original on November 1, 2020. Retrieved October 14, 2020.
  56. ^ "Windows f10 Best Browsers". April 26, 2015. Archived from the original on May 1, 2016.
  57. ^ Howse, Brett (January 25, 2015). "Internet Explorer Project Spartan Shows Large Performance Gains". AnandTech. Purch. Archived from the original on December 8, 2015.
  58. ^ "Windows 10 Browser Benchmarks: Spartan vs. IE, Chrome, Firefox, and Opera". April 1, 2015. Archived from the original on December 26, 2015.
  59. ^ "Delivering fast JavaScript performance in Microsoft Edge". May 20, 2015. Archived from the original on November 3, 2015.
  60. ^ "WebM, VP9 and Opus Support in Microsoft Edge". Windows Blog. Microsoft. April 18, 2016. Archived from the original on October 21, 2016. Retrieved September 18, 2016.
  61. ^ Owen Williams (July 29, 2015). "Microsoft's Edge browser can win back bitter Web developers". The Next Web. Archived from the original on July 30, 2015. Retrieved July 30, 2015.
  62. ^ "Edge HTML5 improvements teased for upcoming Windows 10 LP Insider build". Neowin. Archived from the original on September 5, 2015. Retrieved September 8, 2015.
  63. ^ "HTML5test - How well does your browser support HTML5?". html5test.co. Retrieved 2024-06-10.
  64. ^ HTML5test Edge & Internet explorer https://html5test.com/results/desktop/timeline/edge.html Archived July 1, 2020, at the Wayback Machine
  65. ^ Kasanmascheff, Markus (July 14, 2016). "Microsoft Details Edge Browser Benchmark Results to Prove Its Supremacy". WinBuzzer. Archived from the original on February 5, 2018. Retrieved July 14, 2016.
  66. ^ "Why we challenge Microsoft's battery test". Opera Desktop. June 22, 2016. Archived from the original on February 5, 2017. Retrieved February 1, 2017.
  67. ^ "Which browser is best for battery life: We test Edge vs. Chrome vs. Opera vs. Firefox". June 27, 2016. Archived from the original on July 15, 2016. Retrieved July 14, 2016.
  68. ^ "Google Chrome bests Microsoft Edge in new battery life tests". betanews.com. June 26, 2017. Archived from the original on October 7, 2017. Retrieved October 7, 2017.
  69. ^ "Windows 10 Review". TechRadar. Future plc. Archived from the original on July 29, 2015. Retrieved July 30, 2015.
  70. ^ "Review: Windows 10 is the best version yet—once the bugs get fixed". Ars Technica. July 29, 2015. Archived from the original on July 30, 2015. Retrieved July 31, 2015.
  71. ^ "Windows: it's always the next version". OSNews. Archived from the original on September 5, 2015. Retrieved September 3, 2015.
  72. ^ Max Slater-Robins (September 2, 2015). "Barely anybody is using Microsoft's new browser". Business Insider. Archived from the original on September 5, 2015. Retrieved September 3, 2015. shows that Edge peaked at approximately 20% usage among Windows 10 users at the end of July, before dropping down to 14% by the end of August
  73. ^ "Microsoft Edge InPrivate browsing mode is full of fail and not private". NetworkWorld. IDG. February 2016. Archived from the original on February 1, 2016. Retrieved February 3, 2016.
  74. ^ "KB3135173, OS build 10596.104". Microsoft. February 8, 2016. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved March 6, 2016.
  75. ^ "Desktop Browser Market Share Worldwide". StatCounter Global Stats. Archived from the original on October 11, 2017. Retrieved 2021-11-19.
  76. ^ "Console Browser Market Share Worldwide". StatCounter Global Stats. Archived from the original on September 21, 2019. Retrieved 2019-09-21.

Further reading

[edit]