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Here's what Microsoft will add to and delete from its Windows 10 Edge browser

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Summary:Microsoft is promising to add, after RTM, a number of new features -- and to cut some legacy ones -- with its Windows 10 Edge browser.


By Mary Jo Foley for All About Microsoft | May 7, 2015 -- 15:35 GMT (08:35 PDT)

Microsoft officials have plans to both add to and remove from its new Windows 10 browser a number of new features and extensions.

msedgefeatures.jpg


This week, the Softies detailed some of the post-release-to-manufacturing (RTM) features that its Edge (formerly codenamed "Spartan") browser will be getting. On that list:
  • Extension support (including extensions for Skype Reddit and Pinterest)
  • More Cortana scenarios
  • Object RTC
  • Pointer Lock
On the feature-cut list are a number of "legacy IE technologies," including ActiveX, VBScript, and more -- resulting in the elimination of more than 220,000 lines of code in MSHTML, according to a new Microsoft blog post.

(Silverlight wasn't called out on Microsoft's list, but I'm fairly sure Silverlight plug-ins aren't supported in Edge, either.)

"Not supporting these legacy technologies in Microsoft Edge has a number of benefits: better interoperability with other modern browsers, improved performance, security & reliability, and reduced code complexity, just to name a few," the post said.

Microsoft will be releasing Edge as part of Windows 10. Edge, which uses the Edge.HTML rendering engine, will be the default Windows 10 browser on PCs, tablets and phones, even though IE 11 also will continue to be available on Windows 10 PCs and tablets for legacy reasons. Like Windows 10 itself, Edge will continue to get updates and new features, even after it's declared done/RTM'd.

The Microsoft Edge team participated in a summit this week in San Francisco. Video recordings of the Edge Summit presentations are available for playback from Channel 9.
 
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