Substantial security improvements coming to Microsoft Edge

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I’m as skeptical as the next guy – moreso, actually – but I’m impressed by the security enhancements planned for the next version of Edge. Matt Miller
[See the full post at: Substantial security improvements coming to Microsoft Edge]

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Ahh, Microsoft Edge.

The Reliant Robin of web browsers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQh56geU0X8

We are SysAdmins.
We walk in the wiring closets no others will enter.
We stand on the bridge, and no malware may pass.
We engage in support, we do not retreat.
We live for the LAN.
We die for the LAN.

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Microfix, BobbyB

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It manages to zoom across the finish line first on its three wheels though:

“If performance were the only criteria, I’d give Edge the win.”

What’s 2017’s fastest Windows 10 web browser?

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http://www.techradar.com/news/software/applications/best-browser-which-should-you-be-using-932466
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,1815833,00.asp
http://www.toptenreviews.com/software/internet/best-internet-browser-software/

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Great reviews, thanks:

actually using Edge is a perfectly pleasant experience. It’s super-quick, hammers through benchmarks, its integrated reading mode makes complex sites more palatable, and by sandboxing it away from the rest of the operating system Microsoft has ensured that Edge won’t suffer the security breaches of its older brother.

Microsoft’s Edge Web browser is getting better and better. It aces the JavaScript benchmarks, has a clean interface, offers good security, and now supports extensions.

(The third site lists no browsers at all for Windows 10.)

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@ b

You are welcome.

Powerful and adaptable browser, if your PC has the resources, Chrome is 2017’s best browser

The default ‘browsing experience’ on Windows 10, Edge is an odd one. Quite why Microsoft needs to be running a pair of browser products in tandem is beyond us. The company’s reason, it seems, is that Edge represents the more user-friendly end of Redmond’s offering while Internet Explorer scales a little better for enterprise.

Integration with Windows 10’s core gimmicks seems to be Edge’s main strong point. It happily runs as a modern-skinned app on Windows 10’s tablet mode, and works with Cortana. It’s also highly streamlined for the current web age, doing away with insecure protocols like ActiveX and forcing you into Internet Explorer if you want to use them. We’re more used to browsers failing to render newer pages than we are to being told off for visiting older corners of the web.

Curmudgeonly grumbles aside, actually using Edge is a perfectly pleasant experience. It’s super-quick, hammers through benchmarks, its integrated reading mode makes complex sites more palatable, and by sandboxing it away from the rest of the operating system Microsoft has ensured that Edge won’t suffer the security breaches of its older brother.

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b wrote:

(The third site lists no browsers at all for Windows 10.)

That implies you mean “Edge is the only browser at all for Windows 10“, which doesn’t seem accurate.

But you’re right to point out the omission. It’s an interesting age indeed when online software reviewers ignore the latest fad. I even looked twice, and yep, that article says 2017.

But beyond all that… Why does it matter what some online review site says? What is the likelihood that they browsed ANY of the sites you do? Folks should try things for themselves and make their own judgments.

-Noel

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Should have called the browser ‘Microsoft Freefall’ as it’s right over the edge now..

Windows - commercial by definition and now function...

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About time… if it works. One main reason for not upgrading to Windows 10 for me is if Edge isn’t harder to exploit than IE 11, what’s the purpose of upgrading? If Edge is subject to be as buggy… or More… than IE, I’m safer by staying with Windows 8.1 running Firefox. Good news… again, if it works in the Creators Update & carries over IRL.

Bought a refurbished Windows 10 64-bit, currently updated to 22H2. Have broke the AC adapter cord going to the 8.1 machine, but before that, coaxed it into charging. Need to buy new adapter if wish to continue using it.
Wild Bill Rides Again...

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Edge has a 4.5% market share. With 450 million W10 users, that is around 2 million users.

Edge is currently the Edsel of browsers.

Many Edsels actually left the assembly lines unfinished. Uninstalled parts were placed in the trunks along with installation instructions for dealership mechanics, some of whom never installed the additional parts at all.

Microsoft embedded Edge in W10 unfinished and missing ‘the parts’ most users expect to see in modern browsers. Substantial security improvements is a good start. Now all they need to do is find the trunk of missing parts and get them installed.

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5.48% last month. But that’s of all PC browsers, not just Windows 10.

Edge has more than 20% on Windows 10, so about 90 million users.

What parts are missing? (My trunk seems to be empty.)

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Yep, you got that right. You did not get the missing parts. You are not alone.

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This is so amazing a FREE, BUILT-IN browser gets over 20% of market share in W10 :). It’s as amazing as having 25% market share in OSes even though W10 was offered (that’s a polite way of naming what was actually pushing or forcing) for free :).

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Looking forward to trying out Edge again with the release of Creator, and the inevitable install of all the Apps I’ve removed in every version of Win 10 so far.

That Edge has left behind ActiveX makes it more secure, but that is easily accomplished with IE through configuration – or any other browser for that matter.

Reading between the lines about the “substantial” security improvements, I suggest that doing things like compiling-in code to ensure every function call in OS executable code goes to and from where it is supposed to go will slow things down. Seems like an unacceptable overhead just so ads can display freely. Do most folks really want ads that bad?

-Noel

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Noel Carboni wrote:

That implies you mean “Edge is the only browser at all for Windows 10“, which doesn’t seem accurate.

That implies you didn’t read the article. The ten browsers reviewed are only listed as compatible with Windows XP/Vista/7/8.

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Noel Carboni wrote:

That Edge has left behind ActiveX makes it more secure, but that is easily accomplished with IE through configuration – or any other browser for that matter.

Do any other browsers use ActiveX?

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Firefox and Chrome both have add-ins that support ActiveX.

Heaven only knows why anybody would use them but, yes, other browsers do support ActiveX.

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There used to be some sites which had Active-X content which other browsers could not interpret. Not so much anymore.

 

And the MS Updates Catalog could be accessed, as well as the older MS Updates mechanism, through Firefox with an Active-X add-on.

 

Most if not all of this is no longer necessary.

-- rc primak

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I am impressed enough with Edge to recommend it for anyone who just wants a basic secure browser. I use Firefox mostly myself, but have found myself using Edge more and more. The more I read facts about Edge the more it impresses me what Microsoft is doing. For me personally Chrome is just not impressing me as it did.

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Edge? Oh, that unfinished “browser” that Microsoft wants us to use instead of all other browsers? No thanks, Microsoft.

I have used Firefox for a long time. I don’t care about any “substantial security improvements” or indeed any kind of improvements you may make to Edge, Microsoft. I will NEVER use it (and IE as well), even if I am forced to use Windows 10 in the future.

Hope for the best. Prepare for the worst.

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Aren’t all browsers unfinished? Firefox gets fixes and features nearly every month.

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@ b

b wrote:

Aren’t all browsers unfinished? Firefox gets fixes and features nearly every month.

Agreed.  But, I think many of the responses regarding *Edge* are more a reflection of the squandered reputation that MS has brought upon itself in the last couple years.

“As you sow, so shall you reap!”

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Google’s project Zero found flaws in current Edge and IE11 back in November 2016 and there has been no fix as yet, the Register

https://bugs.chromium.org/p/project-zero/issues/detail?id=1011&q=label%3ACVE-2017-0037

Windows - commercial by definition and now function...

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