In case there was any doubt about using legacy Edge, Microsoft 365 throws its weight behind WebView2
- Reference: 1612971007
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2021/02/10/microosoft_365_edge/
- Source link:
WebView2 is the Chromium-based [2]update of Microsoft's WebView control , which was used to show web content in Windows Forms or WPF desktop applications.
[3]
If not already installed, the runtime will hit on 8 March. On 9 March support will end for Microsoft Edge "Legacy" and April's Patch Tuesday, due on the 13th, will [4]strip the browser from the operating system and pop a Chromium Edge icon into the OS instead.
Although Microsoft 365's new features may rely on the WebView2 Runtime, the old EdgeHTML rendering engine that [5]sat behind the original WebView isn't going anywhere, and will continue to be supported.
[6]
Chrome zero-day bug that is actively being abused by bad folks affects Edge, Vivaldi, and other Chromium-tinged browsers [7]READ MORE
Handy because (at Microsoft's urging) a number of developers opted to make use of the WebView control for Windows 10 apps, ditching Internet Explorer's WebBrowser control. The roadmap has since changed once again and WebView2 is [8]all the rage in Redmond .
As for Internet Explorer, Microsoft is desperate that customers stop using it and switch to an alternative browser. It also added an "Internet Explorer" mode to Chromium Edge for enterprises stuck with that one legacy website that could not do without it. Bits of Microsoft 365, such as Teams, stopped working on the venerable browser back in 2020 and the remaining Microsoft 365 support is to be pulled by 17 August.
Version 2101 of the Microsoft 365 apps (the Current Channel, which was released on 9 February) running on Windows are affected. Other channels with older versions, such as the Semi-Annual Enterprise, are not impacted as yet.
[9]
While those who allowed Windows 10 20H2 onto their PC [10]already have Chromium Edge installed , Microsoft 365 users still clinging to the past seem likely to get the guts of the new browser in the form of the WebView2 control next month ahead of Legacy Edge's final demise in April. ®
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[1] https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/roadmap?filters=&searchterms=70699
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2020/10/20/webview2/
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YCQRIQrpc@K-ns-uiVkIhwAAAIc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[4] https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/microsoft-365-blog/new-microsoft-edge-to-replace-microsoft-edge-legacy-with-april-s/ba-p/2114224
[5] https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/communitytoolkit/controls/wpf-winforms/webview
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YCQRIQrpc@K-ns-uiVkIhwAAAIc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2021/02/05/chrome_zero_day_update/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2020/10/20/webview2/
[9] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YCQRIQrpc@K-ns-uiVkIhwAAAIc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2020/10/21/windows_10_october_2020_update/
[11] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
I'd rather they just remove IE like they are doing with legacy Edge.
If Chromium Edge has an IE mode for the (hopefully) few remaining web apps that need IE, why still have IE installed at all?
I'd rather they just removed them all, or at least let me do it myself. This bit:
April's Patch Tuesday, due on the 13th, will strip [legacy Edge] from the operating system...
is great. It's been bugging the hell out of me that I can't get rid of it myself. This bit:
...and pop a Chromium Edge icon into the OS instead.
is not so great. I'm just hoping that my start-up script:
cd %PROGRAMFILES(X86)%\Microsoft\Edge\Application\8*\Installer
setup --uninstall --force-uninstall --verbose-logging --system-level
will keep working. I should have the right to choose whether I want a browser installed, but it seems that they've entirely forgotten [1]what happened twenty years ago . Fuck you, Microsoft. Just, fuck you.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Microsoft_Corp.
> As for Internet Explorer, Microsoft is desperate that customers stop using it and switch to an alternative browser.
Then why do they insist on supporting it for the lifetime of Windows 10? Until they actually announce it is no longer supported or actively remove current installs employers will continue to insist that our code must be IE compatible because
Internet Explorer... 25 years of hate and still counting. >:(
Just being pedantic, but it's not the lifetime of 'Windows 10'.
Quote from MS: "Internet Explorer 11 will continue receiving security updates and technical support for the lifecycle of the version of Windows on which it is installed."
'Windows 10' is not a version number, that's basically a brand name, '1909', '2004', '20H2' etc are the version numbers.
MS could (I hope) one day simply not include IE in some future version of Windows 10, at which point it would no longer be supported on that version, but would continue to be supported on the older versions whilst they were still in support.
Just a guess, but we are due a new LTSC version of Windows 10 later this year. That would likely be an ideal time to announce a last version of Windows to support IE. That way anyone who really really still needed actual IE for some reason, could use the '21H?' LTSC version of Windows 10, whilst the next version of Windows after that (typically ~6 months later), could come without IE.
IE is the Internet!
For some people anyway!
I was on a call (Teams presentation) just last week with someone from outside our organisation, the presenter was sharing their Desktop (rather than a specific document), you could see the taskbar, and on the taskbar, that they'd not only pinned IE (no Edge or other browser icons visible), but actually had IE open and in use! (The IE icon had the blue underline showing it was is use, just in the background).
Someone asked why they were using IE rather than Edge, i.e. did they need this for a legacy application? The response was that they'd always used IE for the Internet, and then asked us what Edge was! (This was an admin person, rather than anyone technical).
In my mind, IE really shouldn't be part of the default installation in the OS. In fact, is it even needed now [*] if Edge has an IE mode?
* I'm aware some of the legacy libraries might still be needed by the OS/some apps etc. But at least remove the IE icon etc. (or redirect it to Edge or a browser selection screen instead)!
A fundamental principle abandoned
One of the fundamental principles enunciated by Tim Berners-Lee on inventing the WWW was client agnosticism - the principle that the significant content of a service should be accessible without regard for the recipient's specific technologies in use. Not any longer though - indeed not for quite some time.
I absolutely accept that entirely new protocols will require systems to be updated, but all the necessary protocols for Teams to actually function are already supported - this seems just a way of forcing change without user benefit. I also accept that presentation will be technology dependent, sometimes extremely so, but "graceful degradation" should always allow the message to get through even if not beautifully presented.
Such moves by MS seem primarily dedicated to ensuring churn and therefore revenue. Keeping everyone upgrading is what keeps the business alive.
They should add an "Edge rendering mode" to IE11 and use it to render all pages in a WebView2 that don't have IE specific tags. I'm sick of writing IE detection scripts that patiently explain too customers why IE is not an acceptable browser anymore.