After several years spent trying to build their own ecosystem around EdgeHTML, Microsoft called it quits and decided to switch to Chromium. The new version of their browser, also called Edge (sometimes Chromium Edge, to differentiate it from the older version) has rolled out to general applause. There have been some discussions of how it’s arguably better than Chrome itself and some worry about what it means for the internet to have a single company (Google) in such a position of browser dominance. Firefox is the only significant alternative, and Firefox’s overall market share has been falling.
- Finally, an efficient blocker. Easy on CPU and memory. An efficient blocker: Fast, potent and lean, and yet can load and enforce thousands more filters than other popular blockers out there.
- Microsoft’s new Chromium-based Edge browser is available for Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 8, Windows 7, macOS, iPhone, iPad, and Android. Microsoft will even release a version of it for Linux in the future. Chrome already supports all these platforms, so that makes porting the new Edge much simpler for Microsoft.
In all that conversation, not much attention has been paid to a different point. You aren’t able to uninstall Chromium Edge — once it’s on your system, it’s on there for good (according to Microsoft), though those of you who are a little more familiar with digging around in the guts of Windows already have a gleam in your collective eye(s). Much as the Windows 10 giveaway theoretically ended in 2016 but is actually going on today, it’s still technically possible to uninstall Chromium Edge.
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. Starting with Stable channel version 94, Microsoft Edge is moving to a 4-week major release cycle cadence. However, we recognize that enterprise customers who manage complex environments need more time to plan and test Microsoft Edge updates.
As for Microsoft’s justification for why you can’t, the company writes: “We want to ensure all Windows customers have the latest Microsoft Edge browser for the performance, privacy, security, productivity, and support features it offers.” Ironic that the company mentions privacy, since the Chromium Edge installer automatically starts importing your user data from Chrome as soon as Windows boots up post-installation. While you are asked if you wish to complete the process the browser kicks it off without so much as a by-your-leave. Not the best look.
The only reason to fall back to the old Edge compared with the new one, as far as I can tell, is if you really made use of the annotation feature, which no longer exists in the new app and will not, apparently, be returning. Apart from that, is there a huge reason to uninstall Edge?
Probably not. But it’s interesting to see how much perspectives have changed on this point going forward. Over 20 years ago, Microsoft’s decision to bundle IE with its Windows browser was the straw that sent the DOJ charging after the company. Today, the idea of shipping an OS without a browser seems more like buying a car that gets delivered to your house without any wheels. “Have fun!” shouts the truck driver, having dropped off your new car, which has helpfully arrived pre-configured for a life on concrete blocks in the front yard. Can you put tires on it? Sure. Can you drive it to a tire store to pick them out? Not exactly.
Europe, of course, famously mandated that Microsoft creates Windows N to address media application bundling concerns back in 2004. It is not clear that the various Windows N editions ever made a meaningful difference in overall software market share. There’s been no mention of revisiting this browser download issue, despite the fact that Windows 10 still arrives with Edge installed and no automatic option to install a competitor’s browser. Both Microsoft and Chrome have played dirty on the default browser issue. But Microsoft, to my recollection, is the only one to actually warn users away from alternate products:
What we needed was a happy medium between “One browser rules the Earth” and “Your browser is malware.” Image by Thurrot.com
One difference, of course, is that it isn’t in Google’s interest to declare Microsoft is acting like a monopoly, given that Chrome itself is an overwhelming presence in the desktop browser market. Much like ISPs have arranged themselves into monopoly or near-monopoly positions in huge swathes of the United States, Apple and Google have potent walled gardens of their own they aren’t anxious to have the government start poking around in.
Because Microsoft’s efforts to cut itself a piece of the smartphone pie largely failed, the company is now seen as a leader only in one aspect of the computing market, and it’s not a segment that’s seeing the fastest growth or investment. PCs are often treated like a legacy space — important, to be sure, but scarcely a growth industry. COVID-19 has changed that to some extent, but the work-from-home boom that’s driven an increase in PC sales isn’t going to last forever. Thus, the idea of a mandatory browser — one that made people revolt in the late 1990s — is likely to be received with a comparative yawn. After all, how else are you going to get one if you don’t have access to a PC already? The internet has become such a fundamental part of computing, an OS distro without a browser would be missing a critical part of what makes modern computing work.
I don’t think it makes sense for Microsoft to offer Windows without any browser at all as a mainstream product, but I do believe Edge should be something you can uninstall. The amount of recovered disk space is trivial, but there’s no particular value to forcing people to retain software on their PCs that they don’t otherwise use.
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Alongside all the features and improvements in the roadmap for the new version of Microsoft Edge based on the Chromium engine, Microsoft includes a compatibility mode using the Internet Explorer rendering engine to load old websites.
The feature is known as “IE Mode,” and it has been designed for organizations to load internal sites without using a separate browser or having to redesign the site. The new approach loads the pages within Microsoft Edge like a regular website without using and managing multiple browsers.
If you want to start using it, the version of Microsoft Edge available through the stable channel now includes the “Internet Explorer compatibilities” settings to quickly enable IE Mode and a separate option to open Edge when browsing an incomparable website with Internet Explorer. Alongside the settings, it also possible to use the Group Policy Editor to configure the compatibility mode.
In this guide, you will learn the steps to enable IE Mode to load legacy websites using the Internet Explorer rendering engine on Chromium Edge for Windows 10. (You can also watch this video tutorial to configure the feature.)
How to enable IE mode on Microsoft Edge
To enable IE mode on Edge, use these steps:
- Open Microsoft Edge on Windows 10.
- Click the Settings and More (ellipsis) button on the top-right corner.
- Select the Settings option.
- Click on Default browser.
- Under the “Internet Explorer compatibility” section, turn on the “Allow sites to be reloaded in Internet Explorer mode” toggle switch.
- Click the Restart button.
Once you complete the steps, when sites require Internet Explorer, you can use Microsoft Edge to reload the page using IE mode.
Open site with IE Mode on Edge
After the IE Mode is enabled, you need to reload a page with the compatibility mode manually.
To open an incompatible website with IE Mode on Edge, use these steps:
- Open Microsoft Edge on Windows 10.
- Click the Settings and More (ellipsis) button on the top-right corner.
- Select the More tools submenu and choose the “Reload in Internet Explorer mode” option.
After you complete the steps, the website should reload in compatibility mode. If the feature is not enabled, then the option won’t be available in the menu.
If you want to exit IE Mode, you can use the same instructions, but on step No. 3, select the Exit Internet Explorer mode option.
Open Internet Explorer sites on Microsoft Edge
On Windows 10, Microsoft Edge also lets you configure the browser so that when someone is using Internet Explorer incompatible or all sites will load within Edge.
To let IE open websites with Edge, use these steps:
- Open Microsoft Edge on Windows 10.
- Click the Settings and More (ellipsis) button on the top-right corner.
- Select the Settings option.
- Click on Default browser.
- Under the “Internet Explorer compatibility” section, use the “Let Internet Explorer open sites in Microsoft Edge” drop-down menu and select the option to handle browsing when using Internet Explorer, including:
- Never – IE will never switch to Edge to load the site.
- Incompatible sites only – IE will still load sites, but websites designed for a modern browser will load in Edge.
- Always – IE will always switch to Edge to load websites.
Once you complete the steps, when surfing the web in Internet Explorer, websites will open on Microsoft Edge, according to your configuration.
How to enable IE mode with Group Policy on Microsoft Edge
Alternatively, you can also enable IE Mode on Chromium Edge with Group Policy. However, you will need to download and install the policy template before you can configure the Group Policy settings.
Install Microsoft Edge policy template
To install the policy template to enable IE Mode on Edge, use these steps:
- Open Microsoft Edge for business website.
- Under the “Policy File” section, click the Download button.
- Select the version of Microsoft Edge. (Usually, you want to use the latest stable version available.)
- Select the build (latest version available).
- Select the platform — for example, Windows 64-bit.
- Click the Get policy files option.
- Click the Accept & download button.
- Double-click to open the MicrosoftEdgePolicyTemplates.zip file.
- Click the Extract all button from the “Compressed Folder Tools” tab.
- (Optional) Select the location to extract the files.
- Check the Show extracted files when complete option.
- Click the Extract button.
- Browse the following path inside the (extracted) “MicrosoftEdgePolicyTemplates” folder:
- Select the msedge.admx and msedgeupdate.admx files and click the Copy option from the “Home” tab.Quick tip: You only need to copy the “msedgeupdate.admx” file if you want to control the update settings of Microsoft Edge.
- Browse to the following path:
- Click the Paste button from the “Home” tab.
- In the “admx” folder, inside the “MicrosoftEdgePolicyTemplates” folder, open the language folder that represents your language — for example, en-US.
- Select the msedge.adml and msedgeupdate.adml files and click the Copy option from the “Home” tab.Quick tip: You only need to copy the “msedgeupdate.adml” file if you also copy the file on step No.12.
- Browse to the following path that matches your language:In the above command, make sure to change en-US for the folder that matches your language.
- Click the Paste button from the “Home” tab.
Ms Chromium Edge Download
Once you complete the steps, the new policies to enable or disable IE Mode on Edge Chromium will install in the Group Policy Editor.
Enable IE Mode on Microsoft Edge
Ms Chromium Edge Download
To enable IE Mode on Chromium Edge with Group Policy, use these steps:
- Open Start.
- Search for gpedit and click the top result to open the Group Policy Editor.
- Browse the following path:
- Double-click the Configure Internet Explorer integration policy.
- Select the Enabled option to enable IE Mode for Microsoft Edge.
- Under the “Options” section, select the Internet Explorer mode from the dropdown menu.
- Click the Apply button.
- Click the OK button.
After you complete the steps, websites will render in compatibility mode, and you’ll notice a familiar IE icon on the left side of the address bar letting you know the website is using Internet Explorer.
These steps enable IE Mode for intranet websites. If you want to load external websites using Chromium Edge, you need to enable and set up the “Configure the Enterprise Mode Site List” policy, which includes the creation of an XML file with the list of domains that you want to load automatically with the Internet Explorer mode.
Ms Chromium Edge Browser
Update February 11, 2021: This guide has been revised with the steps to configure IE Mode on the Chromium version of Microsoft Edge using the new compatibility settings and updated the process to install the Group Policy templates.