Microsoft rolls out stable Edge browser across its 151K employees

Dave W. Shanahan

Microsoft has started rolling out the stable version of its new Chromium-based Edge browser to all of the company’s 151,000 employees. As noted in a post on Microsoft IT Showcase, Microsoft used more than 100,000 of its own employees’ experiences using pre-release versions of the Edge browser as a source of feedback. By using its own browser in-house, Microsoft has been able to see if its new Edge browser was ready to handle the needs of enterprise customers.

Steve Rugh, a principal program manager lead in the Microsoft Edge product group, says there is a lot for enterprise-level IT admins to like in the new version of Edge. Microsoft’s decision to build Edge using the Chromium open-source project means more websites are compatible with the new browser:

Rather than find yet another way to fracture the web with yet another browser, we decided to build on and improve upon the Chromium open-source project that most people and developers are using. Now it’s easier to use our browser. The new Microsoft Edge is still a front door to Microsoft and now it will be easier for more people to walk through that door. It has best-in-class compatibility with extensions and web sites. It has great support for the latest rendering capabilities and modern web applications, and it has powerful developer tools that work across all supported platforms.

The new Microsoft Edge introduces useful new capabilities for Enterprise users including Application Guard and SmartScreen. Application Guard opens Microsoft Edge using a separate container to prevent hackers from trying to access your Windows device and/or operating system, and SmartScreen helps protect your Windows PC against malware and phishing attacks.

Microsoft provides helpful information to enterprise IT admins, including step-by-step guidance on how to deploy and configure Microsoft Edge for Business on this page.