Microsoft Edge version 100 started rolling out on April 1 with lightweight PDF previews and memory integrity protection. Since it has been four weeks since that release, Edge 101 has now hit general availability (GA) with couple of interesting features such as a Progressive Web Apps (PWA) hub and improvements to default profile switching.
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The PWA hub is something we covered in detail in February when it was being tested. In a nutshell, it work as an "Apps" button on the toolbar and gives you quick access to your PWAs. It will also encourage you to install apps as PWAs and then group installed PWAs into categories that can be filtered and sorted. You can enable the Apps button in the Appearance section in Edge. That said, Microsoft has implied in its changelog that this capability will be rolled out in a staggered manner, we don"t have it on our devices yet.
Edge also has a new policy called EdgeDefaultProfileEnabled which allows you to set a default profile rather than opening the last one that was used. Another handy capability will enable you to switch certificates on a website without quitting the browser first.
For organizations co-managing Microsoft Edge and Internet Explorer, shared cookies can be configured via the Enterprise Site List Manager. There is also a new policy that enables you to set the default state for allowing extensions to be installed from other stores.
Here is the complete list of policy updates:
New policies
- ConfigureKeyboardShortcuts - Configure the list of commands for which to disable keyboard shortcuts
- ControlDefaultStateOfAllowExtensionFromOtherStoresSettingEnabled - Configure default state of Allow extensions from other stores setting
- EdgeAssetDeliveryServiceEnabled - Allow features to download assets from the Asset Delivery Service
- EdgeDefaultProfileEnabled - Default Profile Setting Enabled
- InternetExplorerModeEnableSavePageAs - Allow Save page as in Internet Explorer mode
- KioskSwipeGesturesEnabled - Swipe gestures in Microsoft Edge kiosk mode enabled
- MicrosoftOfficeMenuEnabled - Allow users to access the Microsoft Office menu
- SiteSafetyServicesEnabled - Allow users to configure Site safety services
Deprecated policies
- ForceCertificatePromptsOnMultipleMatches - Configure whether Microsoft Edge should automatically select a certificate when there are multiple certificate matches for a site configured with "AutoSelectCertificateForUrls"
Obsoleted policies
- WebSQLInThirdPartyContextEnabled - Force WebSQL in third-party contexts to be re-enabled
As always, there are security improvements too. This release of Edge patches two security vulnerabilities related to elevation of privilege and spoofing, you can find more details here. You can manually trigger the update for version 101.0.1210.32 of Edge by clicking the three-dots menu on the top-right corner of the browser window and then navigating to Help and feedback > About Microsoft Edge.