Last week, I turned on my PC, installed a Windows update, and rebooted to find Microsoft Edge automatically open with the Chrome tabs I was working on before the update. I don’t use Microsoft Edge regularly, and I have Google Chrome set as my default browser. Bleary-eyed at 9AM, it took me a moment to realize that Microsoft Edge had simply taken over where I’d left off in Chrome. I couldn’t believe my eyes.
Edge, unlike Internet Explorer, is not a system level dependency. There is a separately installed web view than handles that now, likely due to EU consumer protections.
It kind of still is because of Webview2. Games such as Forza Motorsport (not that you’d want to play that crap) depend on it for Xbox login purposes even if you bought the game on Steam. The game depends on the system Edge libraries and doesn’t ship its own.
Edge is a dependency of the “Internet Explorer compatibility” system feature which comes enabled by default, while the Webview feature comes disabled by default.
Sneaky? Yeah… but it’s a dependency 🤷