Serious Discussion Microsoft Edge Stable (Chromium) Now Available for Download

[Sammo]

Bing AI button reappeared after updating after using command-line method to disable it.

Also a new (to me) alert from Edge to "Continue browsing with Edge ...." while printing a PDF. The constant intrusions are a constant irritation.

Try adding this to the registry:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge
DWORD: HubsSidebarEnabled
Value: 0

 

[brambedkar59]

Version 111.0.1661.44: March 16, 2023

Feature update
New Microsoft Edge PDF experience policy. As part of the Adobe and Microsoft collaboration to re-envision the future workplace and your digital experiences, we are natively embedding the Adobe Acrobat PDF engine into the Microsoft Edge built-in PDF reader, with a release scheduled in March 2023. Administrators can start testing the new Microsoft Edge PDF reader which is powered by the Adobe Acrobat PDF engine by enabling the NewPDFReaderEnabled policy. For more information, see Microsoft Edge and Adobe partner to improve the PDF experience.
Policy updates
New policies
ShowAcrobatSubscriptionButton - Shows button on native PDF viewer in Microsoft Edge that allows users to sign up for Adobe Acrobat subscription
NewPDFReaderEnabled - Microsoft Edge built-in PDF reader powered by Adobe Acrobat enabled

Microsoft Edge release notes for Stable Channel

Microsoft Edge release notes for Stable Channel

learn.microsoft.com

 

[silversurfer]

After all ranting over past weeks, this is a feature what is useful for me

Latest Microsoft Edge 111 Stable brings native Adobe Acrobat PDF reader

Microsoft has begun rolling out the Adobe Acrobat PDF reader engine which it announced a month ago in February. The feature is now available for some users on the latest Edge 111 stable update.

www.neowin.net

 

[SeriousHoax]

Guys if you are signed into Edge, using sync functions, can you check this?
Go to "edge://sync-internals/", on the top left click on "Sync Node Browser", collapse "Device Info" and see how many devices does it show there?
Let me tell you how it works on Chrome, so any device where you're signed in would show up here. But if the device has not been synced for more than 7 days it would disappear from there. This is normal and expected behavior. In the past Edge wouldn't delete these device names from here. So, if you reinstall windows and sign in again, the older more than 7 days ones would still show up here. If your old signed-in device and new signed in the device has the same name they would show multiple times there. Even if you sign out, the device info just wouldn't get deleted. For Chrome, if you sign out, the device is instantly gone from the list. But it was/is an issue for Edge. Old devices were showing up even in the list of Send tabs to other devices. I had to choose reset Edge including deleting everything from Microsoft Server to remove that device info.
I haven't signed out of Edge or reinstalled Windows in a long time. So I can not test it myself at the moment and asking you to check how it is on your device to give me an idea.

 

[brambedkar59]

Guys if you are signed into Edge, using sync functions, can you check this?
Go to "edge://sync-internals/", on the top left click on "Sync Node Browser", collapse "Device Info" and see how many devices does it show there?

It only shows current two devices I am using, my laptop and smartphone.

 

[SeriousHoax]

It only shows current two devices I am using, my laptop and smartphone.

Okay nice and I know from your BSOD issue that you reinstalled Windows not so long ago.
Do you change your Windows device name or just keep the random one that Windows auto generates.

 

[brambedkar59]

Do you change your Windows device name or just keep the random one that Windows auto generates.

I always name it something like "AsusTuf17"

 

[ForgottenSeer 97327]

As soon as you set a policy for Edge through GPO or registry, you will get the "Your browser is managed by your organization", which in itself is not a problem, but you also can't change your DNS over HTTPS setting anymore (@brambedkar59).

I have included a few of my Edge policies, you can see what those settings do at Microsoft Edge Browser Policy Documentation

Spoiler: Disabling annoyances & identification

UserAgentReduction=dword:00000002

"WebRtcLocalhostIpHandling"="AllowPublicInterfaceOnly"

HubsSidebarEnabled=dword:00000000

ShowPDFDefaultRecommendationsEnabled=dword:00000000

SpotlightExperiencesAndRecommendationsEnabled=dword:00000000

AdsSettingForIntrusiveAdsSites=dword:00000002

ConfigureFriendlyURLFormat=dword:00000001

ShowMicrosoftRewards=dword:00000000

DiagnosticData=dword:00000000

Spoiler: Setting DNS over HTTPS

DnsOverHttpsMode="automatic"

DnsOverHttpsTemplates="https://dns.quad9.net/dns-query" ! just copy the URL you would normally enter in the Edge settings GUI, I used Quad9 as example above

Spoiler: Enhancing security

RendererAppContainerEnabled=dword:00000001

DefaultFileSystemReadGuardSetting=dword:00000002

DefaultFileSystemWriteGuardSetting=dword:00000002

AudioSandboxEnabled=dword:00000001

BrowserLegacyExtensionPointsBlockingEnabled=dword:00000001

NetworkServiceSandboxEnabled=dword:00000001

InsecurePrivateNetworkRequestsAllowed=dword:00000000

AutomaticHttpsDefault=dword:00000001

PDFSecureMode=dword:00000001

SandboxExternalProtocolBlocked=dword:00000001

SharedArrayBufferUnrestrictedAccessAllowed=dword:00000000

AllowCrossOriginAuthPrompt=dword:00000000

BasicAuthOverHttpEnabled=dword:00000000

DefaultInsecureContentSetting=dword:00000002

DefaultWebHidGuardSetting=dword:00000002

DefaultWebUsbGuardSetting=dword:00000002

SmartScreenEnabled=dword:00000001

SmartScreenPuaEnabled=dword:00000001

InternetExplorerIntegrationLevel=dword:00000002

SmartScreenForTrustedDownloadsEnabled=dword:00000001

DefaultSensorsSetting=dword:00000002

DefaultSerialGuardSetting=dword:00000002

As always feedback appreciated when I have set/enabled/disabled something wrong or forgot an option

 

[SeriousHoax]

Is this for real! Maybe it's time for me to go back to Chrome again.

 

[brambedkar59]

Is this for real! Maybe it's time for me to go back to Chrome again.

One useless "feature" after another, we haven't even got the update for fixing the last "Discover" issue yet and now this. If they won't provide an easy way to disable this crap, I will be moving on to something else. Haven't tried Firefox for a while now.

 

[oldschool]

@brambedkar59 @Sammo @SeriousHoax I'm rediscovering the relative simplicity of Chrome compared to Edge, Brave, etc. Very strange but it seems we are all coming full circle back to several years ago, before Brave, et. al.

The issues I'm facing in Chrome are the missing "Clear history on close" feature and all the calls made to the various Google entities without user action or consent. As to the latter, I'm not sure that chrome://settings are enough to stop the worst offenses. Thus, I'm considering using Adguard extension and currently test driving JSHelter extension to make up for Chrome's deficiencies.

 

[Captain Holly]

I wonder how long it will be before MS starts adding unwanted and unnecessary "new features" to the Windows OS itself. I already voiced how I feel about AI and interacting with robots but will add here that I also do not want anything at all to do with crypto. Period. Crypto is nothing but an outright scam used by crooks, criminals and thieves and I want nothing to do with it.

I have been working with Linux the last few weeks, dual booting Mint on my older Windows 10 laptop, learning how Linux works and what I can do with it. I like Linux a lot but today I fired up my Windows 11 laptop, just to keep it updated and possibly pay more attention to the differences between Windows and Linux. Things like this crypto nonsense and AI and the forced Bing junk are all really reaffirming that I made a very good decision to move to Linux.

I think I may set up this newer Windows 11 laptop to dual boot Mint or possibly another distro this weekend. MS and Edge just keep getting worse. I have been using the Chromium browser in Mint and it works great so far. It looks and works a lot like Chrome without the creepy ads and tracking. Firefox also works very will in Mint. I found it interesting and very reassuring that FF and Chromium were the default browsers in Mint.

C.H.

 

[wat0114]

Things like this crypto nonsense and AI and the forced Bing junk are all really reaffirming that I made a very good decision to move to Linux.

Same for me, in addition to the telemetry that MS has infested Windows with for several years now.

 

[piquiteco]

Thanks for the tip. I will remember it if I try any other distro. I am still very much a noob with Linux and did not know that was possible.

You're welcome, my friend.

 

[wat0114]

My three step remedy for dealing with increasing Edge irritants:

sudo apt-get remove microsoft-edge-stable
sudo apt-get purge microsoft-edge-stable
sudo apt-get autoclean

 

[Captain Holly]

I hate to admit it but I bit off more than I care to chew with Linux. It is a neat OS, some parts are interesting how they work, but it ran too slow for me. Some of the websites I use every day either didn't work at all or were very slow to load. I had a few other problems with Mint too that are probably way above my pay grade to fix. The main thing was the slow internet. It was ok on some sites but really slow on others. I tested in Chrome under Windows 10 and did not have any of those type of problems. Linux is cool, I will give it that but it is just not the right thing for me, not right now. I went back to Windows and Chrome as my default browser. I am tired of MS and their pushy tactics. Switching away from Edge is one thing I can control. I may revisit Linux some time in the future, but for now I am tolerating MS and avoiding Edge altogether.

C.H.

 

[Moonhorse]

If edge is going for crypto wallet thing aswell, theres only google chrome and vivaldi left , if you want to sync between mobile devices aswell.
Its bye bye edge for now, vivaldi is my new home

Been a huge letdown lately with windows and edge aswell , bugs after bugs

 

[WhiteMouse]

Microsoft will push out CryptoWallet next month, they even have a policy for it: "CryptoWalletEnabled"

 

[oldschool]

Microsoft will push out CryptoWallet next month, they even have a policy for it: "CryptoWalletEnabled"

The only feedback they're likely to hear is using another browser. Chrome or Firefox.

 

[Gandalf_The_Grey]

Version 111.0.1661.51: March 21, 2023

Fixed various bugs and performance issues.

Microsoft Edge release notes for Stable Channel

Microsoft Edge release note for Stable Channel

learn.microsoft.com