Edge follows Chrome
Google announced about a week ago that the release cycle for Chrome has been shortened from six to four weeks. As expected, being based on the same code base (Chromium), Microsoft has informed users that it will follow the same cadence for Edge. The Redmond company also announced that Windows 10 21H1 will be the first version of the operating system without the old Edge.Edge: new version every 4 weeks
Microsoft actively contributes to the development of Chromium, so it will adopt the same release cycle chosen by Google. The goal is to speed up the distribution of Edge and therefore access to new features. However, this will be true for consumer users. A different cadence will be available for enterprise users (as on Windows) in order to avoid problems that can cause an interruption of business activities.Microsoft will therefore offer the Extended Stable option which provides for the release of a new version every eight weeks. The option must be selected because the default is four weeks. In any case, security updates will be released every two weeks. The change will take effect from Edge 94, which is scheduled to launch in the week of September 23. The new release cycle will almost certainly be followed by other Chromium-based browsers, including Opera, Vivaldi, and Brave.
As for the old Edge, known as the Legacy Edge, Microsoft has announced that it will not be included in Windows 10 21H1. This is an expected decision, as support ended on March 9th. The cumulative update of April 13 will remove the old browser from Windows 10 1803/1809/1909/2004 / 20H2 and the new version will be installed in its place.
Microsoft Edge to follow Google Chrome’s faster new release every four week cycle
After Google announced a major shift to releasing major Chrome updates every four weeks instead of six weeks, Microsoft is ready to do the same on its end with its own Chromium-based Edge browser.
The company has just detailed the changes, revealing that the Microsoft Edge web browser is indeed now ready to move to a faster release pace, but also keep a legacy cycle for those enterprise users who aren’t ready for it.
Microsoft says that they are looking forward to their new 4-week release cadence to “help deliver innovation to our customers even faster,” but notes that they haven’t forgotten about their enterprise customers who need more time to roll out updates. As a result, the new 4-week release schedule will now be the default experience for everyone, except for enterprise users who opt in to what’s being called a new “extended stable option.” That option is the one that will stick to a longer 8-week major release cycle.
Note that the Canary, Dev, and Beta branches will not change. It is also important to note that enterprise users who are in the extended stable options will still get updates from the 4-week cycles. However, the pace will be a bit more manageable. This means enterprise users can set expectations for a biweekly security update with the most important fixes, with everything else being delivered on the extended schedule every eight weeks. Basically, getting every other version of Microsoft Edge, but still keeping key security and bug fixes.
The change is not expected to take place on Microsoft’s end until version 94, just as Google has announced with their changes rolling out starting in Chrome version 94. Currently, Microsoft Edge is on version 89, so it will be quite a while until we get to that four-week release schedule, likely not until September or Q3 2021. More information is available here if you’re concerned.
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