Jim Salter
Microsoft officially discontinued support for the legacy (non-Chromium-derived) Edge browser this week. The death of Edge’s legacy was first announced in August 2020, ending March 9, 2021 – this Tuesday.
The outdated version of Edge, originally called Project Spartan, was developed in 2015 as the standard browser of Windows 10 in 2015. Unlike the current Edge-based Edge, it had no upstream project – the entire browser, up to and with the version engine, was a Microsoft design.
Despite the fact that Windows 10 was the default browser, Spartan never achieved a significant market share, let alone the crushing dominance that Internet Explorer once enjoyed. According to GlobalStats, the legacy of Edge has reached a peak of well below 2.5 percent of the market share – less than, for example, Opera. By contrast, and despite its relatively newborn status, Edge-based Edge has already reached 3.4 percent – a decline in Firefox’s much-reduced 3.8 percent from February 2021.
Windows Update is scheduled to automatically remove Legacy Edge on Patch Tuesday next week. If you have any family – or colleagues who need a little “extra support” – who are still dependent on Legacy Edge, this might be a good time to visit them and hold out a little before the old animal is gone forever. .