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Microsoft Edge Legacy

Not to be confused with the newer Chromium based Microsoft Edge.

Microsoft Edge Legacy
Developer(s)Microsoft
Initial releaseJuly 29, 2015; 9 years ago (2015-07-29)
Final release
44.19041 with EdgeHTML 18.19041 / May 27, 2020; 4 years ago (2020-05-27)
EnginesEdgeHTML[1], Chakra
Operating systemXbox One System Software, Windows 10
Included withWindows 10, Windows 10 Mobile, Xbox One System Software
PredecessorInternet Explorer
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]

Edge Legacy was succeeded by "New Edge" (based on Chromium) on January 15, 2020.[4][5] Support for Edge Legacy ended on March 9, 2021.[6]

Features

Microsoft Edge [Legacy] was the default web browser, replacing Internet Explorer 11 and Internet Explorer Mobile.[7] 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.[8][9][10]

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.[11] The developer toolset features an option to emulate the rendering behaviour ("document mode") of Internet Explorer versions 5 to 11.[12][13]

Favorites, reading list, browsing history and downloads are viewed at the Hub,[14] a sidebar providing functionality similar to Internet Explorer's Downloads manager and Favorites Center.[15]

Edge features a built-in PDF reader,[16] 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).[17]

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][18][19]

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,[20] 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.[20]

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.[21]

Release strategy

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

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.[22]

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.[23] Microsoft officially unveiled "Spartan" during a Windows-focused keynote on January 21, 2015.[20] It was described as a separate product from Internet Explorer, its final name was not announced.[24]

"Spartan" was first made publicly available as the default browser of Windows 10 Technical Preview build 10049, released on March 30, 2015.[25] 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.[7][26]

On April 29, 2015, during the Build Conference keynote, it was announced that "Spartan" would officially be known as Microsoft Edge.[27] The browser's logo and branding were designed to maintain continuity with the branding of Internet Explorer.[28] 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.[29]

In April 2018, Edge added tab audio muting.[30] In June 2018, support for the Web Authentication specifications were added to Windows Insider builds, with support for Windows Hello and external security tokens.[31][32]

August 2019 saw the removal of Microsoft Edge Legacy's support for the EPUB file format.[33]

Microsoft stopped supporting Microsoft Edge Legacy on March 9, 2021.[34][35] On April 13, 2021, Microsoft released a cumulative monthly security update which replaced Edge Legacy with the new Chromium-based Edge.[36]

EdgeHTML

Main article: EdgeHTML

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.[37][38] EdgeHTML is written in C++.[39]

The rendering engine was first released as an experimental option in Internet Explorer 11 as part of the Windows 10 Preview 9926 build.[40]

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."[41]

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.[42] Other benchmarks focusing on the performance of the WebGL API found EdgeHTML to perform much better than Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox.[43]

Edge Legacy release history

Performance

Early benchmarks of the EdgeHTML engine—included in the first beta release of Edge in Windows 10[58] 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,[59] while in other benchmarks it operated slower than Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Opera.[60]

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.[61]

Edge originally lacked support for open media standards such as WebM and Opus, but these were later added in Edge 14.14291.[62]

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.[63]

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.[64]

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.[65]

In June 2017, Edge 17 had scored 492/555 on HTML5test.[66]

Power efficiency

In June 2016, Microsoft published benchmark results to prove the superior power efficiency of Edge in comparison to all other major web browsers.[67] Opera questioned the accuracy and provided their own test results where Opera came out on top.[68] Independent testing by PC World confirmed Microsoft's results.[69] However, tests conducted by Linus Sebastian in June 2017 instead showed that, at that time, Chrome had the best battery performance.[70]

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.[71] 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.[72] 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".[73]

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.[74]

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,[75] and was fixed with a cumulative update on February 9, 2016.[76]

Market share

According to StatCounter, in August 2019, Edge overtook the market share of Internet Explorer (IE) on PCs, ranking third place at 9.14%[77] and IE in sixth. On Microsoft consoles, Edge replaced IE as the dominant browser a few months after its release in 2015.[78]

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Further reading

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