14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft first announced Windows Defender Application Guard for Microsoft Edge in late 2016, promising to release it to insiders in the coming months before making it broadly available to everyone with the Creators Update, and it turns out that this feature has been silently implemented in the last preview build.
Windows 10 Creators Update (Redstone 2) build 15031 comes with the Windows Defender Application Guard integrated into Microsoft Edge, and as @gus33000 discovered, you can easily check it out for yourselves by simply typing about:applicationguard in the address bar.
At this point, the only thing we can see is the intro screen, which confirms the existence of the feature in Microsoft Edge, and it’s believed that Microsoft would make it official with the next build expected this week.
What is Windows Defender Application Guard?
This new security feature for Microsoft Edge adds a new protection layer to Windows 10 devices that isolates threats in a sandbox, limiting their access and blocking them from impacting computers or stored data.
“Windows Defender Application Guard uses the latest virtualization technology to help protect your operating system by creating an isolated environment for your Microsoft Edge session. It starts up every time you visit a non-work-related site, to help keep potentially malicious attacks away from your PC,” the intro screen currently available in Microsoft Edge reads.
“Any websites you visit, files you download, or settings you change while in this isolated environment are deleted when you sign out of Windows, wiping out any potential malware.”
This feature should become available for all users with the Windows 10 Creators Update due in April, and Microsoft is expected to officially announce it when the next preview build goes live these days.
In addition to the Windows Defender Application Guard, Microsoft Edge is also getting other improvements in the Creators Update, including tab improvements and many more extensions, all of which are already implemented in preview builds.