Enterprises can now start testing the new browser

Jul 12, 2019 08:03 GMT  ·  By

Internet Explorer has long been the preferred browser for enterprises, especially for compatibility reasons, and now that Microsoft is working on a modern alternative, the software giant hopes this would become the default choice for most companies.

Earlier this week, Microsoft declared the Chromium-based Microsoft Edge ready for enterprise testing, meaning that businesses can deploy the application within their organizations to test-drive all of the new features.

As per Neowin, Microsoft specifically highlights Microsoft Edge features aimed at enterprises, as it’s the case of group policies, the Internet Explorer Mode, Application Guard, and others, all of which have already been implemented specifically for early testing.

The Internet Explorer, which was added a few days ago in the Dev version of Microsoft Edge, allows enterprises to launch specific services and apps in an IE instance without leaving the new browser. This helps prevent compatibility issues, making it possible for enterprises to migrate to Microsoft Edge without losing support for their older apps and services.

Preview versions of Edge already available

Microsoft Edge is still available in preview stage on Windows and macOS, and the browser is being offered in two different versions on both platforms.

First, it’s Microsoft Edge Canary, which receives updates every week, and then, there’s Microsoft Edge Dev that is updated every week. None of these should be used as a daily driver, albeit the two versions have proved to be fairly stable and reliable so far, convincing some users to give up on Chrome and Firefox.

No ETA has been provided as to when Edge should graduate from a testing browser to fully stable, but a beta build is likely to land in the coming months. Edge will be available cross-platform thanks to Chromium support for non-Windows operating systems, and a Linux version is therefore expected as some point in the future.