The Microsoft Edge legacy browser is going to disappear from our windows machines. The Friday announcement made by Microsoft said that the Chromium-based Edge browser is set to replace the legacy browser.
The update itself is a security update set to release on April 13.
The Legacy version of Microsoft Edge will no longer be supported starting March 2021, as per reports. The company has also begun alerting users about the update. Users who do not want to wait until April can download the chromium version of MS Edge from the Microsoft website.
Microsoft’s decision to end support for the Internet Explorer 11 and Legacy Edge came back in August 2020. The company had planned to do so gradually, with the ultimate step finally lifting on April 13, 2021.
Chromium-based Microsoft Edge browser first became available to the public as beta software in April 2019. Several months later, the new version made it into a stable phase in January 2020. While the browser is similar to Chrome at its base, there are several improvements added on by Microsoft.
While Microsoft has been very selective about browsers in the past, their actions surrounding the Edge suggest that it is evolving with time. The company took decades to improve/replace the Internet Explorer even though browsers like Chrome and Safari were changing desktop and mobile browsing alike. Finally, the switch to a Chromium-based browser came in as the completion of selective evolution.
Users who already have the chromium version of the browser do not have anything to worry about. The upcoming April update will only remove the Legacy Edge without affecting the chromium Edge. Browsing history, cookies, cached memory will be left intact.
