Psst... wanna try the shiny new version of Edge?

You might have heard that some changes are coming for Microsoft Edge, and today we’re excited to announce that the first preview builds of the next version of Microsoft Edge based on Chromium are now ready for download on Windows 10 PCs.

We’d like you to be among the first to try out what we’ve been working on. We’re proud of our progress so far, but we still have a lot of work to do. We want to hear your perspective on how to make the product even better.

Keep in mind, these early builds can be run on any 64-bit version of Windows 10 without impacting your current browsing experience—and the current Microsoft Edge browser will continue to be included in Windows 10 Insider Preview Builds.

We’re looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the new preview builds, and we hope that you’ll continue to give us feedback on the current version of Microsoft Edge. This will help us ensure a quality experience for our current users while we work towards what’s next.

This is just the beginning. We hope you’ll join us as we work to make the future of Microsoft Edge great. Thanks for helping us build a better Microsoft Edge.

VISIT THE MICROSOFT EDGE INSIDER SITE 

AND DOWNLOAD NOW

The all new Microsoft Edge Web Browser is available to download now!

It's time to expect more. The new Microsoft Edge is now available for download on all supported versions of Windows, macOS, Android and iOS in more than ninety languages.

Insiders, thank you for joining our journey to build the new Microsoft Edge. There have been millions of downloads of the prerelease builds by the Microsoft Edge community. We couldn't have done it without you. We will continue to engage with the Insider community to make Microsoft Edge the browser that puts the web to work for you.

So, what's the difference between old & new Edge? On 6th December 2018, Microsoft announced its intent to base Edge on the Chromium source code, using the same rendering engine as Google Chrome but with "enhancements" developed by Microsoft.

www.microsoft.com

Microsoft's Edge browser to be replaced with one one based on Chromium?...

Microsoft's Edge web browser has seen little success since its debut on Windows 10 back in 2015. Built from the ground up with a new rendering engine known as EdgeHTML, Microsoft Edge was designed to be fast, lightweight, and secure, but launched with a plethora of issues which resulted in users rejecting it early on. Edge has since struggled to gain any traction, thanks to its continued instability and lack of mindshare, from users and web developers.

Because of this, I'm told that Microsoft is throwing in the towel with EdgeHTML and is instead building a new web browser powered by Chromium, a rendering engine first popularized by Google's Chrome browser. Codenamed Anaheim, this new web browser for Windows 10 will replace Edge as the default browser on the platform, according to my sources who wish to remain anonymous. It's unknown at this time if Anaheim will use the Edge brand or a new brand, or if the user interface between Edge and Anaheim is different. One thing is for sure, however; EdgeHTML in Windows 10's default browser is dead.

www.windowscentral.com

Microsoft pushing out emergency fix for newly disclosed processor exploit

January 3, 2018—KB4056892 (OS Build 16299.192)

Applies to: Windows 10 version 1709

This update includes quality improvements. 

No new operating system features are being introduced in this update. 

Key changes include:

Addresses issue where event logs stop receiving events when a maximum file size policy is applied to the channel.

Addresses issue where printing an Office Online document in Microsoft Edge fails.

Addresses issue where the touch keyboard doesn’t support the standard layout for 109 keyboards.

Addresses video playback issues in applications such as Microsoft Edge that affect some devices when playing back video on a monitor and a secondary, duplicated display.

Addresses issue where Microsoft Edge stops responding for up to 3 seconds while displaying content from a software rendering path.

Addresses issue where only 4 TB of memory is shown as available in Task Manager in Windows Server version 1709 when more memory is actually installed, configured, and available.

Security updates to Windows SMB Server, the Windows Subsystem for Linux, Windows Kernel, Windows Datacenter Networking, Windows Graphics, Microsoft Edge, Internet Explorer, and the Microsoft Scripting Engine.

If you installed earlier updates, only the new fixes contained in this package will be downloaded and installed on your device.

www.microsoft.com

Microsoft: Edge is better than Chrome. Honestly! ;0)

Microsoft has kicked off 2018 with two new ads promoting Windows 10 Edge's battery efficiency and speed compared with Google Chrome.

It's a new year and Microsoft wants its Windows 10 users to give Edge a chance, rather than merely using the browser to install Chrome.

Microsoft published the two new ads on New Year's Eve, pitting Edge against Chrome, the world's most popular browser.

www.zdnet.com

Microsoft Edge Overtakes Mozilla Firefox

It was probably just a matter of time, but the thing so many people, including everyone at Microsoft, expected finally happened: Microsoft Edge surpassed Mozilla Firefox to become the world’s second most-used desktop browser.

Data provided by market analysis firm NetMarketShare reveals that the whole thing happened in March, when the adoption of the Chromium-powered Microsoft Edge improved to a level that allowed it to overtake Mozilla’s own browser.

So right now, Microsoft Edge is the second most-used desktop browser on the planet with a share of 7.59%, while Mozilla Firefox is now third with 7.19%.

As for who’s leading the pack, Google Chrome continues to be number one with a share of 68.50%.

www.softpedia.com

Which is the most secure Web Browser? Spoiler: it's Chrome!

The Pwn2Own 2017 hacking contest, which celebrated its 10th anniversary, concluded after three days in which security teams hacked away at browsers and operating systems. Microsoft’s Edge seems to have been hit the hardest, while Chrome remained unhackable during the contest.

Microsoft created the Edge browser by rewriting most of it from scratch (some parts were forked from Internet Explorer). The company’s goal was to have a browser that’s much more secure and that can keep up with Chrome and Firefox when it comes to supporting the latest web standards. Edge even implemented sandboxing technologies that were similar to what Chrome was using, which put it ahead of Firefox, which is still trying to play catch-up in this regard.

www.tomshardware.com

Introducing the new Microsoft Edge and Bing

In our mission to empower people with knowledge with Microsoft 365, one critical opportunity is the internet. We know that 60% of the time people spend on the PC is within the web browser, and it has become the primary way we work, learn and play. The internet has become an everyday utility, that we reach for automatically without thinking, yet two decades after its introduction, we are bumping into challenges and obstacles that raise questions for us.

• Is our data safe and our privacy protected as we surf the web?
• At work, why can’t we find our internal company information, like our pay stub or co-worker’s office location, right from within our browser or search engine like we do with web search?
• Why can’t the web work more seamlessly with the productivity tools we know like Office 365 so that we can be more productive with our research and collaborate with others?

At Microsoft, we believe it is time to expect more from your web experience whether you are using it for personal or business use, an IT manager in a company, or a web developer. Today we begin with a focus on people in businesses and introduce the new Microsoft Edge and Microsoft Bing – the browser and search engine for business.

Microsoft today announced that the new Microsoft Edge is expected to be generally available starting January 15, 2020. We are also excited to introduce our new look! To learn more about these announcements, click below:

www.windows.com

Microsoft is finally retiring Internet Explorer in 2022

Microsoft is finally retiring Internet Explorer next year, after more than 25 years. The aging web browser has largely been unused by most consumers for years, but Microsoft is putting the final nail in the Internet Explorer coffin on the 15th June 2022, by retiring it in favour of Microsoft Edge.

“We are announcing that the future of Internet Explorer on Windows 10 is in Microsoft Edge,” says Sean Lyndersay, a Microsoft Edge program manager. “The Internet Explorer 11 desktop application will be retired and go out of support on June 15, 2022, for certain versions of Windows 10.”

www.theverge.com

Firefox 89: Can this redesign stem browser's decline?

 

Mozilla has released Firefox 89, proclaiming it a "fresh new Firefox," though it comes amid a relentless decline in market share.

Firefox matters more than most web browsers, because it uses its own browser engine, called Quantum, and its own JavaScript engine, called SpiderMonkey. By contrast, most other browsers, including Chrome and Chromium, Edge, Brave, Opera, and Vivaldi use the Google-sponsored Blink engine, while Apple's Safari uses WebKit (from which Blink was forked). The existence of multiple independent implementations is important for web standards, helping to prevent a single vendor from pushing through changes without consensus, and ensuring that the standards are coherent.

A glance at a statistics site like W3Counter is telling. In April 2008, Microsoft enjoyed a 63 per cent market share with Internet Explorer, and with Firefox performing strongly behind it at 29.3 per cent. By April 2010, IE was down to 48.6 per cent, Firefox up to 32.7 per cent, and Google's newer Chrome was starting to make an impact, at 8.3 per cent.

In April 2012, the three were almost on a par, though Chrome (26.8 per cent) had overtaken Firefox (25 per cent). Today, Chrome is at 65.3 per cent, Safari second at 16.7 per cent, IE and Edge has 5.7 per cent, and Firefox has just 4.1 per cent share. 

Despite numerous updates, Mozilla's browser has declined from 6.1 per cent share a year ago. Statcounter tells a similar story, reporting a 3.59 per cent share for Firefox, down from 4.21 per cent a year ago.

www.theregister.com

Appeasement, compromise and silence in a D-Day for the Church

Wilberforce Academy Director, Dr Joe Boot, comments on the state of the nation and where we have gone since the Britain of the 1930s and 40s. Sadly, he says, with eroding freedoms and emptying churches, “the heart and soul of the nation [has become] disease-ridden, on life-support and on the edge of extinction.” How will history look back on this generation?

Looking back to the events of World War II is instructive for reflecting on the true price of appeasement and compromise. Despite the Munich agreement of September 1938, on September 1, 1939, the Nazi regime, under the leadership of a democratically elected Adolf Hitler, invaded Poland, triggering the start of World War II. Yet this was not the beginning of German aggression under the Nazis in Europe. By March 15, 1939, not only had Germany violated numerous elements of the Treaty of Versailles in terms of rearmament and remilitarization of the Rhineland, but German forces had marched into Czechoslovakia in the name of uniting German-speaking peoples. Taking over Bohemia and enforcing a ‘protectorate’ over Slovakia, their charge eastward demonstrated unequivocally that Hitler had lied at Munich and had no intention of keeping his word. It was at this point that the now notorious appeasement strategy of British Prime minister Neville Chamberlain was exposed for the folly that it was – a policy, as Winston Churchill memorably described it, of feeding the crocodile in the hope of being eaten last.

During the same period, from the Parliamentary backbenches throughout the 1930s, Churchill had sounded the alarm about German rearmament, Nazi ambitions and the lack of preparedness on the part of the British military in the event of a conflict. He was largely laughed at, ignored or condemned as a warmongering dinosaur. Even those within his own party frequently spoke against him as alarmist and draconian. It was only after massive pressure in the British press that in 1939 he was finally made a member of cabinet – and for that we can be thankful! It is a rare thing for cultural prophets to be heard and heeded, whether in ancient Israel, mid-twentieth century Britain or the early part of the twenty-first century in the West.

The recent high-profile commemorations of the seventy-fifth anniversary of D-Day should have been sobering for any thoughtful Christian – especially in the UK. As a Brit living in Canada, with a Dutch grandfather who fought in some of the dangerous early allied operations in Europe, I cannot help feeling a deep sense of sadness and regret at what we have become as a nation after all the faith-filled sacrifice of that era. Though by no means flawless, this was a generation deeply shaped by Christian virtues, quiet hope in God and a strong sense of the justice of their cause. They recognized that civilised society and socio-cultural order involves a covenant between past, present and future. As such they felt duty-bound to fight for the faith and freedoms that had been bequeathed to them through much sacrifice in the past and obligated to preserve that faith and freedom for their children and grandchildren.

But there can no longer be any doubt that the Britain of the 1930s and 40s, which my grandparents loved and defended, is gone. I do not just mean that the passage of time has altered the English landscape, or that the stylish modesty of 40s fashion has given way to the obvious and vulgar. Nor I am simply observing that various valuable customs, manners and traditions have all but disappeared – I remember as a boy, for example, my grandfather always raising his hat when passing a lady in the street or standing when a lady entered the room as a mark of respect. It is not only because the typical English roast dinner around the family table after church has gone the way of the dodo that I look back with grief – I would be just as happy with a family biryani these days. Rather, I mean that the heart and soul of the nation is disease-ridden, on life-support and on the edge of extinction.

www.christianconcern.com

Microsoft Ports Anti-Phishing Technology to Google Chrome Extension

Microsoft has released a Chrome extension named "Windows Defender Browser Protection" that ports Windows Defender's —and inherently Edge's— anti-phishing technology to Google Chrome.

The extension works by showing bright red-colored pages whenever users are tricked into accessing malicious links.

The warnings are similar to the ones that Chrome natively shows via the Safe Browsing API, but are powered by Microsoft's database of malicious links —also known as the SmartScreen API.

An NSS Labs benchmark revealed that Edge (with its SmartScreen API) caught 99 percent of all phishing URLs thrown at it during a test last year, while Chrome only detected 87 percent of the malicious links users accessed.

To download the Chrome extension (browser plugin), click here.

www.bleepingcomputer.com

It's not just Windows 11 that can't get the numbers, Edge sucks too!

Statcounter's latest findings for May 2024 revealed an increase in Windows 11 users after a couple of months of steady decline. The report also contains information about desktop and mobile browsers, showing what apps customers prefer to browse the internet. According to the May 2024 report, Microsoft Edge managed to reach a new all-time high of 13.14%, beating the previous month's result by 0.32 points.

Although there is no reason to believe we will have a new most popular browser in the world any time soon, Chrome lost quite a chunk of users in May 2024. Statcounter says its market share went down from 65.65% to 64.87%.

Apple's Safari browser is third, with a respectable 8.79% market share. Firefox is fourth with 6.64%, and Opera closes the list of top 5 desktop browsers with a 3.23% share.

Meanwhile in other news: Microsoft plans to lay off about 1,000 people across the tech giant, despite what CEO Satya Nadella (so OK for some then, eh Satya) described during the corporation's April earnings call as "a record third quarter." 

While reports have suggested Microsoft would cut as many 1,500 people just from its Azure for Operators group, The Register has been told that number is not accurate and is inflated.

www.neowin.net

Sale @ HP.com - great deals to be had - especially this one!

HP 15s-fq0002na Full-HD Laptop

£299.00 VAT incl.

HURRY - LAST FEW REMAINING

Stay connected to what matters most with long-lasting battery life[1] and thin and portable, micro-edge bezel design. Built to keep you productive and entertained from anywhere, the HP 39.6 cm (15.6") diagonal laptop features reliable performance and an expansive display - letting you stream, surf and speed through tasks from sun up to sun down.

Windows 10 Home in S mode (convertable to Win10 Home)

Intel® Core™ i3-7020U (2.3 GHz base frequency, 3 MB cache, 2 cores)

39.6 cm (15.6") diagonal FHD SVA anti-glare micro-edge WLED-backlit (1920 x 1080)

8 GB memory; 128 GB SSD storage

Dual speakers; HP Fast Charge; HD Webcam

store.hp.com

Google Chrome for Windows gets a battery performance boost

Google responds to Microsoft criticism that Chrome is a battery hog by introducing new power consumption enhancements.

Back in June, Microsoft hit out against Google by publishing test results which claimed that its Edge browser had the edge over Chrome when it came to power-saving on portable systems. Google has now responded by introducing new power consumption enhancements to the Windows version of its browser.

www.zdnet.com

Download the new Google Chrome v35

Slashdot poll: what web browser do techies use?

A web browser (commonly referred to as a browser) is a software application for accessing information on the World Wide Web. Each individual web page, image, and video is identified by a distinct Uniform Resource Locator (URL), enabling browsers to retrieve these resources from a web server and display them on a user's device.

As of March 2019, more than 4.3 billion people use a browser, which is about 55% of the world’s population. The most popular browsers are Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Internet Explorer, and Edge.

Slashdot is one of the most popular sites for techies. This poll gives some indication of what web browser us techies use. BTW - I use Chrome most of the time, then Edge & Firefox for testing. 

www.slashdot.org

Lenovo sold PCs loaded with adware 2014-2015. It's punishment: a slap on the wrist!

Lenovo on Tuesday settled charges that it compromised the security of its computers to fling ads onto desktops from August 2014 through early 2015.

The settlement with America's trade watchdog the FTC, plus 32 State Attorneys General, acknowledges no wrongdoing and imposes no financial penalty - other than a paltry $3.5m to those roughly three dozen states.

Instead, it forbids Lenovo from lying about the nature of software that injects ads or harvests data, if present on its computers, and obliges the company to get consent from customers before installing such software.

Furthermore, for the next 20 years, it requires the company to maintain a third-party audited risk assessment program for software on its computers.

Lenovo computers that may have been affected by SuperFish adware:

E Series:  E10-30

Edge Series:  Lenovo Edge 15

Flex Series:  Flex2 14, Flex2 15, Flex2 14D, Flex2 15D, Flex2 Pro, Flex 10

G Series:  G410, G510, G710, G40-30, G40-45, G40-70, G40-80, G50-30, G50-50, G50-45, G50-70, G50-80, G50-80Touch

Miix Series:  Miix2 – 8, Miix2 – 10, Miix2 – 11, Miix 3 - 1030

S Series :  S310, S410, S415, S415 Touch, S435, S20-30, S20-30 Touch, S40-70

U Series:  U330P, U430P, U330 Touch, U430 Touch, U530 Touch

Y Series:  Y430P, Y40-70, Y40-80, Y50-70, Y70-70

Yoga Series:  Yoga2-11, Yoga2-13, Yoga2Pro-13, Yoga3 Pro

Z Series:  Z40-70, Z40-75, Z50-70, Z50-75, Z70-80

Lenovo - on the SuperFish incident

www.theregister.co.uk

The Daily Mail online gets a browser warning: "generally fails to maintain basic standards of accuracy and accountability"

The Daily Mail is calling for a web browser alert that criticises its journalism to be changed.

The NewsGuard plug-in currently brings up a warning that says the newspaper's website "generally fails to maintain basic standards of accuracy and accountability". It has given this advice since August.

But the matter came to prominence last week, after Microsoft updated its Edge browser app for Android and iOS devices and built in NewsGuard.

At present, NewsGuard must be switched on by users of Microsoft's Edge app, but the BBC understands there are plans for it to become the default option in the future.

www.bbc.co.uk

1.7 million planned satellites to have ‘devastating’ impact on astronomy

In almost 60 years of space activities, more than 5200 launches have placed some 7500 satellites into orbit, of which about 4300 remain in space. This number is set to skyrocket.

For the first time, a European Southern Observatory (ESO) study has quantified the threat to astronomy posed by a large number of highly reflective satellites planned to launch in the coming years.

In the paper, published in Astronomy & Astrophysics, ESO astronomer Olivier Hainaut argues that no more than 100,000 faint satellites – invisible to the naked eye – should orbit Earth.

Enforcing that guideline would preserve the darkness of the night sky and allow astronomers to continue cutting-edge science using modern telescopes.

Instead, there are existing proposals for more than 1.7 million satellites. These would have “devastating consequences for astronomy,” Hainaut claims.

The most disruptive of these, he argues, will be Reflect Orbital’s mirror-like satellites, which are designed to beam concentrated sunlight down to Earth at nighttime.

www.newatlas.com

Windows 10 version 21H2 will launch later this month

Microsoft has announced that the next Windows 10 feature update, officially known as the November 2021 Update, will begin rolling out this month and that the final build is available now for testing in the Windows Insider Release Preview channel and via ISOs.

Even though Windows 11 is now out, Microsoft isn't abandoning Windows 10. The November 2021 Update is based on the same "Vibranium" platform release that the May 2020, October 2020, and May 2021 updates were based on. This means the update will only take a few minutes to install, and will be no more than a few hundred megabytes in size.

Here's what's new with the Windows 10 November 2021 Update:

* Adding WPA3 H2E standards support for enhanced Wi-Fi security

* Windows Hello for Business supports simplified passwordless deployment models for achieving a deploy-to-run state within a few minutes

* GPU compute support in the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) and Azure IoT Edge for Linux on Windows (EFLOW) deployments for machine learning and other compute intensive workflows

www.windowscentral.com