Microsoft: Windows 11 24H2 ditches Defender Application Guard and browser extensions on Edge

Microsoft Edge logo in red

Back in December last year, Microsoft announced the upcoming deprecation of Microsoft Defender Application Guard (MDAG), formerly called Windows Defender Application Guard, from Edge. Several months later, in April 2024, the tech giant added more details about it and associated extensions, revealing that the deprecation was planned for June 2024.

This week, Microsoft has finally officially confirmed that MDAG has been deprecated and removed in Windows 11 24H2 alongside the associated Windows Isolated app launcher APIs. Note, however, that this does not affect home users as such since the feature is mainly designed for enterprises.

On its official website that details the list of removed Windows features, Microsoft writes:

Microsoft Defender Application Guard, including the Windows Isolated App Launcher APIs, is deprecated for Microsoft Edge for Business and is no longer available starting with Windows 11, version 24H2.

For those not familiar with how Application Guard worked, utilizing the Windows Isolated app launcher APIs, Microsoft would compare a visited URL against a list of trusted websites. If such a URL was not found on the list, then Edge would launch it inside a secure, isolated VM container environment.

Alongside the list of removed features, Microsoft had also updated the removal of WDAG in the deprecation list:

[Update - October 2024]: Starting with Windows 11, version 24H2, Microsoft Defender Application Guard, including the Windows Isolated App Launcher APIs, is no longer available.

Microsoft feels the feature is no longer necessary for the latest Windows 11 version since newer security features are already present in its browser that protect against the likes of phishing, typosquatting, and data loss. The company writes:

The additional security features in Edge make it very secure without needing Application Guard. The growing list of security features includes:

Defender SmartScreen for the anti-phishing and malware support and URL scanning and blocking.

Enhanced security mode for protecting against memory-related vulnerabilities by disabling just-in-time JavaScript compilation (and other protections).

Website typo protection for misspelled websites.

Data Loss Prevention to identify, monitor, and automatically protect sensitive items.

In case you missed it, Microsoft has also removed WordPad in Windows 11 24H2.