Latest Edge 111 stable gets Copilot, IE mode clearer, Microsoft 365 Edge Tab page changes
Microsoft has released the latest stable version of Edge. The new version, 111.0.1661.41, brings new Edge sidebar features powered by Edge Copilot and offers improved visibility and new hover functionality. Along with improvements to the sidebar, the new version also brings a new Microsoft feed to the New Edge tab page, a policy to clear IE mode data, and more.
The full changelog is given below:
A new Microsoft Edge sidebar. In this release, the sidebar introduces several new features and improvements aimed at improving productivity, convenience, and user experience. Here are some of the highlights:
- The new discovery: Edge Copilot is a powerful tool that helps users increase their productivity and efficiency. It provides intelligent suggestions and insights based on the context of the website and the user’s goals. As a new Bing toolbar icon, Edge Copilot helps users compose better emails, search the web faster, learn new skills, and do it all more conveniently.
- Improved sidebar visibility: With the new auto-hide feature, a user can maximize the productivity and convenience of the sidebar without sacrificing valuable screen real estate. The Edge sidebar can be hidden when a user isn’t using it, and only reappear when a user needs it.
- Further development of the sidebar interaction: The new hover feature allows users to open the sidebar by hovering over the Bing icon in the toolbar. This increases user productivity and convenience by providing a seamless and intuitive way to access the most commonly used tools.
Admins retain the ability to control and customize the sidebar and its experience as needed using the following settings:
- When admins enable the sidebar, users have access to the sidebar and Edge Copilot experience. The sidebar is displayed in the browser frame at all times. Clicking the Bing icon in the toolbar brings up the new Discover experience.
- If admins select the “not configured” setting, users have access to the sidebar and the Edge Copilot experience. Unlike when the sidebar is enabled, its users have the option to always show or auto-hide the sidebar.
- If admins disable the sidebar, Discover and the sidebar will not be accessible to their users. Note: In this release, admins don’t have the option to disable Discover and keep the sidebar.
Additional customization options for the sidebar toolbar button are planned for future versions of Microsoft Edge.
For more information, see Manage the sidebar in Microsoft Edge and Microsoft Privacy Statement (Search, Microsoft Edge, and Artificial Intelligence).
Microsoft feed in Microsoft 365 Edge new tab. We’re introducing a new experience on the Microsoft 365 tab of the Edge Enterprise New Tab page. This experience features a new layout that focuses on a larger version of the Microsoft feed with more productivity content, moving the productivity cards, including important emails, recent SharePoint sites, upcoming events, and tasks, to the right Microsoft 365 tab .
Enhanced security mode improvements. Enhanced security mode now supports WebAssembly for macOS x64 and Linux x64. More cross-platform (ARM64) support is expected in the future. For more information, see Browse more safely with Microsoft Edge.
New policy to clear IE mode data on browser exit. The InternetExplorerModeClearDataOnExitEnabled policy controls whether browsing history is cleared each time Microsoft Edge is closed from Internet Explorer and Internet Explorer mode. Users can also configure this setting in the “Clear browsing data for Internet Explorer” option in the “Privacy, Search, and Services” menu of Settings (edge://settings/privacy).
Policy update
New guidelines
The official release notes can be found here.