Since its debut as a Chromium-based browser, Microsoft Edge has become much more popular and, on top of that, has started rolling out to many more users. Now, Microsoft is starting to deliver the new Microsoft Edge as a part of the latest Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 updates.
Microsoft Edge rolled out as a part of the latest Windows 10 updates earlier this year, potentially delivering the browser to millions of users. Now, millions of other users are about to get the browser installed on their laptops and desktops.
As noted in an update changelog directly from Microsoft, Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 are both about to get the Chromium-based Edge through Windows Update. This latest update actually started rolling out on June 17th, so it should be available for many at this point.
Edge Chromium Windows 7 Support
The new Microsoft Edge is based on Chromium and was released on January 15, 2020. It is compatible with all supported versions of Windows, and macOS. With speed, performance, best in class compatibility for websites and extensions, and built-in privacy and security features, it's the only browser you'll ever need. Try the new Microsoft Edge now.
Microsoft explains that the new, Chromium-based Edge will be automatically pinned to the taskbar and will have a shortcut added to the desktop too. Users of the previous version of Edge, too, will see their shortcuts replaced. This won’t happen for Internet Explorer, though. The new Microsoft Edge won’t automatically become the default browser either.
The Edge Chromium browser is generally available for almost all major operating systems for past few months now. Like most browsers these days, when you download Edge Chromium from the Microsoft website, what you get is an online installer. The official release of the preview versions of Microsoft Edge Chromium is the first version of Microsoft Edge that the company released for its Windows 7 and 8.1 operating systems. When Microsoft released the original Microsoft Edge browser in 2015, it made the browser Windows 10 exclusive. How to Get Chromium Edge on Windows 10, 8, and 7. If you're ready to try out Microsoft's Chromium-based Edge browser on Windows, it's painless to give it a try. It's a free download, and the process works basically the same whether you're using Windows 10, 8, or 7. So right now, the Chromium-powered Microsoft Edge can be installed on Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows 10, and macOS, with a Linux version also on its way without a specific ETA.
Microsoft has released a new Chromium-based version of Microsoft Edge. This new version provides best in class compatibility with extensions and websites. Additionally, this new version provides great support for the latest rendering capabilities, modern web applications, and powerful developer tools across all supported OS platforms. The new Microsoft Edge will be pinned to the taskbar and add a shortcut to the desktop. If your current version of Microsoft Edge already has a shortcut, it will be replaced.
Microsoft explains that Windows 8.1 users will get this update automatically, but there are a couple of prerequisites to get it on Windows 7. Users will need to be on Service Pack 1 with the SHA-2 update (KB4474419) update installed as well as the servicing stack update (SSU) (KB4490628). Both of those were released in 2019.
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-->Use the following information to configure Microsoft Edge policy settings on your Windows devices.
Note
This article applies to Microsoft Edge version 77 or later.
Configure policy settings on Windows
Chromium For Windows 7
You can use group policy objects (GPO) to configure policy settings for Microsoft Edge and managed Microsoft Edge updates on all versions of Windows. You can also provision policy through the registry for Windows devices that are joined to a Microsoft Active Directory domain, or Windows 10 Pro or Enterprise instances enrolled for device management in Microsoft Intune. To configure Microsoft Edge with group policy objects, you install administrative templates that add rules and settings for Microsoft Edge to the group policy Central Store in your Active Directory domain or to the Policy Definition template folder on individual computers and then configure the specific policies you want to set.
You can use Active Directory group policy to configure Microsoft Edge policy settings if you prefer to manage policy at the domain level. This enables you to manage policy settings globally, targeting different policy settings to specific OUs, or using WMI filters to apply settings only to users or computers returned by a particular query. If you want to configure policy on individual computers, you can apply policy settings that only affect the local device using the Local Group Policy Editor on the target computer.
Microsoft Edge supports both mandatory and recommended policies. Mandatory policies override user preferences and prevents the user from changing it, while recommended policy provide a default setting that may be overridden by the user. Most policies are mandatory only; a subset are mandatory and recommended. If both versions of a policy are set, the mandatory setting takes precedence. A recommended policy only takes effect when the user has not modified the setting.
Tip
You can use Microsoft Intune to configure Microsoft Edge policy settings. For more information, see Configure Microsoft Edge using Microsoft Intune.
There are two administrative templates for Microsoft Edge, both of which can be applied either at the computer or Active Directory domain level:
- msedge.admx to configure Microsoft Edge settings
- msedgeupdate.admx to manage Microsoft Edge updates.
To get started, download and install the Microsoft Edge administrative template.
1. Download and install the Microsoft Edge administrative template
If you want to configure Microsoft Edge policy settings in Active Directory, download the files to a network location you can access from a domain controller or a workstation with the Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT) installed. To configure on an individual computer, simply download the files to that computer.
When you add the administrative template files to the appropriate location, Microsoft Edge policy settings are immediately available in the Group Policy Editor.
Go to the Microsoft Edge Enterprise landing page to download the Microsoft Edge policy templates file (MicrosoftEdgePolicyTemplates.cab) and extract the contents.
Add the administrative template to Active Directory
On a domain controller or workstation with RSAT, browse to the PolicyDefinition folder (also known as the Central Store) on any domain controller for your domain. For older versions of Windows Server, you may need to create the PolicyDefinition folder. For more information, see How to create and manage the Central Store for Group Policy Administrative Templates in Windows.
Open MicrosoftEdgePolicyTemplates and go to windows > admx.
Copy the msedge.admx file to the PolicyDefinition folder. (Example: %systemroot%sysvoldomainpoliciesPolicyDefinitions)
In the admx folder, open the appropriate language folder. For example, if you’re in the U.S., open the en-US folder.
Copy the msedge.adml file to the matching language folder in the PolicyDefinition folder. Create the folder if it does not already exist. (Example: %systemroot%sysvoldomainpoliciesPolicyDefinitionsEN-US)
If your domain has more than one domain controller, the new ADMX files will be replicated to them at the next domain replication interval.
To confirm the files loaded correctly, open the Group Policy Management Editor from Windows Administrative Tools and expand Computer Configuration > Policies > Administrative Templates > Microsoft Edge. You should see one or more Microsoft Edge nodes as shown below.
Add the administrative template to an individual computer
- On the target computer, open MicrosoftEdgePolicyTemplates and go to windows > admx.
- Copy the msedge.admx file to your Policy Definition template folder. (Example: C:WindowsPolicyDefinitions)
- In the admx folder, open the appropriate language folder. For example, if you’re in the U.S., open the en-US folder.
- Copy the msedge.adml file to the matching language folder in your Policy Definition folder. (Example: C:WindowsPolicyDefinitionsen-US)
- To confirm the files loaded correctly either open Local Group Policy Editor directly (Windows key + R and enter gpedit.msc) or open MMC and load the Local Group Policy Editor snap-in. If an error occurs, it’s usually because the files are in an incorrect location.
2. Set mandatory or recommended policies
You can set mandatory or recommended policies to configure Microsoft Edge with the Group Policy Editor for both Active Directory and individual computers. You can scope policy settings to either the Computer Configuration or User Configuration by selecting the appropriate node as described below.
To configure a mandatory policy, open the Group Policy Editor and go to (Computer Configuration or User Configuration) > Policies > Administrative Templates > Microsoft Edge.
To configure a recommended policy, open the Group Policy Editor and go to (Computer Configuration or User Configuration) > Policies > Administrative Templates > Microsoft Edge – Default Settings (users can override).
3. Test your policies
On a target client device, open Microsoft Edge and navigate to edge://policy to see all policies that are applied. If you applied policy settings on the local computer, policies should appear immediately. You may need to close and reopen Microsoft Edge if it was open while you were configuring policy settings.
For Active Directory group policy settings, policy settings are propagated to domain computers at a regular interval defined by your domain administrator, and target computers may not receive policy updates right away. To manually refresh Active Directory group policy settings on a target computer, execute the following command from a command prompt or PowerShell session on the target computer:
You may need to close and reopen Microsoft Edge before the new policies appear.
You can also use REGEDIT.exe on a target computer to view the registry settings that store group policy settings. These settings are located at the registry path HKLMSOFTWAREPoliciesMicrosoftEdge.
See also