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        Microsoft Gives Its Chromium-Based Edge Browser an Enterprise Boost
        
        
        
			- By Kurt Mackie
- July 18, 2019
The upcoming Chromium-based  Edge  browser is getting a few feature tweaks aimed at enterprise and business users, Microsoft announced this week.
Interested users can access an Edge  browser preview  with enterprise features via Microsoft's Dev Channel.  The Dev Channel delivers updates to the Edge browser on a weekly  basis. This latest July release includes "offline  installers and ADMX files," which can be used to set policy configurations  on Windows systems. 
A more polished release venue would be the Beta Channel, where  updates arrive every six weeks, but the Edge browser isn't available yet from  that source. Microsoft also has an early Canary Channel, where updates arrive daily.  A Stable Channel for Edge releases is yet to come. 
Essentially, the new Edge browser enterprise features are  at the preview level and can be tested. Microsoft claims it's possible to run  the Chromium-based Edge preview alongside the older Edge browser that comes  with Windows 10 without any conflicts. For a recent walkthrough, see Brien Posey's recent Redmond article.
New Features
The new enterprise features in Edge that are currently available  from the Canary and Dev channels include:
  - Internet Explorer Mode, an important tool for  organizations still dependent on Internet Explorer 11. It'll switch users to IE  11 via a tab in Edge. The feature, which adds support for legacy technologies  like ActiveX and Silverlight, is explained in this Microsoft video.
- Offline installers for Edge. They'll be  available for all supported Windows and macOS platforms.
- Single sign-on access using the Azure Active  Directory service, including support for multiple user profiles, such as the ability  to set up home and work accounts for the same browser.
- Group Policy support, with "over 180"  settings for browser deployment and management.
- Conditional Access and Application Guard support  on Windows 10 systems.
- "Enterprise-grade integrated PDF support."
- Developer tools support, including WebView support, a way of displaying Web page content within an application.
- Language support for 10 languages.
Coming Features
Microsoft also is rolling out other enterprise features,  starting as early as Wednesday, although they could take "several  weeks" to arrive. Those features include:
  - Integrated search from Edge's address bar.
- Data sync across devices using "compliant  clouds."
- An "Enterprise new tab page," which  provides fast access to "Office 365 docs and sites." When users open  a new tab, they'll see the new tab page, which provides access to the "corporate  web apps, documents, and sites they use most, as well as recommended content  from Office 365."  
Microsoft is promising that it'll add deployment and  configuration support for the Edge browser using System Center Configuration  Manager (SCCM) and Microsoft Intune, plus "third-party" tools, in a future browser  release. Information Protection on Windows 10 systems also will arrive in a  future Edge update. PDFs will get support for digital signatures and Microsoft  Information Protection. Language support in Edge will grow to 110 languages.  Lastly, Microsoft plans to add its Microsoft Defender SmartScreen Web site  reputation security technology to Edge at some point, which aims to ward off  phishing attempts and malware.
Last month, Microsoft also released "an experimental  preview" of tracking  protection in Edge. Tracking protection is disabled by default in the  preview and is just available for Microsoft Edge Insider  program participants on the Canary Channel who enable the "experimental  flag" in the browser. Tracking protection is designed to block "third-party"  trackers and "known malicious trackers" from viewing a user's browsing  behavior information.
The Chromium  Switch
Microsoft had announced plans to proceed with using the  open-source Chromium engine, fostered by Google, in its Edge browser back  in December. The move aims to simplify matters for Web site developers, add  Web app compatibility and improve the browsing experience for end users.
The EdgeHTML engine still gets used in the browser, but  just to support Universal Windows Platform applications and Progressive Web  Apps, Microsoft explained. The new Edge browser also uses the Chromium  Project's V8 JavaScript engine internally, but Microsoft still maintains its ChakraCore  Jscript engine for external support. 
The new Edge browser for desktops is a cross-platform  project for Microsoft. It has support for Windows 10 and macOS operating  systems, including newly added support  for the older Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 desktops. 
Microsoft also makes Edge  apps for the Android and iOS mobile operating systems. Those apps already use  aspects of the Chromium platform, Microsoft previously explained. 
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
            
        
        
                
                    About the Author
                    
                
                    
                    Kurt Mackie is senior news producer for 1105 Media's Converge360 group.