When Microsoft announced the end of Project Spartan (Edge Legacy), it seemed like yet another thing people would read, process, and promptly forget. Well, that day is here. Technically it already came with the release of the most recent Windows patch updates. The update removes legacy edge and replaces it with (new) Edge (Chromium).
Microsoft did clarify some confusion about what this April 2021 update would and wouldn’t do, specifically around situations where customers already had installed the ‘new’ Edge browser. In those cases, the update will only remove the legacy Edge browser.
Given that legacy Edge never really reached broad adoption, removal shouldn’t significantly impact most organizations. We expect many to barely notice the change at all, having removed legacy Edge or avoided using it in the first place. Browsium had a few customers deploy legacy Edge, and following company policy, we have supported it since the official release – we don’t fully support browsers in Beta or pre-release.
With the programmatic removal of legacy Edge from systems and Microsoft support officially ended, Browsium will remove legacy Edge’s support in our next major release (5.0). We believe eliminating support from our products will help avoid confusion and remove unnecessary code from our products. We will be working with any customers currently using legacy Edge to help them make the transition.
We would encourage organizations running legacy Edge Microsoft to review the note on kiosk mode support to ensure they do not experience Microsoft’s ‘service disruption’ issues. Customers running Browsium Catalyst should contact support with any questions or guidance.
All of this underscores the issue that the web is evolving. Changes come faster than organizations can adopt or adapt, especially without the right tools. Removing legacy Edge is a good thing and a small thing given its penetration. Doing it without being sure of the impacts is what Browsium is here to help with. Browsium Proton provides data on browser usage of any version from all supported vendors (Microsoft, Google, and Firefox). It’s hard enough to keep up with everything in the browser space. Why make it more complex with all the blind spots? Browsium will light up every corner of your web application estate, from browsers to web applications and all the details they contain. Take control before the problems force you to react.
Project Spartan was a critical part of the evolution of browser development for Microsoft. Not only did it formally and clearly denote the break from how they approached the web with IE (and related technologies), but it also made clear their commitment to standards. We all benefit from these types of efforts and working towards standardization. While Spartan may no longer be around, its legacy (no pun intended) will live on. Long live Spartan.
