What you need to know
- Microsoft Edge version 119.0.2151.44 recently shipped to the Stable Channel for everyone to download.
- The release ships with several fixes, improvements, and the usual policy updates.
- The split screen feature in Edge is getting a neat improvement that will let users restore a split tab after restarting the browser.
Microsoft recently shipped Edge 119.0.2151.44 to the Stable Channel for everyone to download. As usual, it features several fixes and improvements. I'm an avid Microsoft Edge user and heavily rely on the split screen feature for multitasking. It has redefined my browsing experience since I no longer need to hop across multiple tabs, as It lets me run two web pages under one tab.
The new update brings more improvements to the feature. You'll no longer need to worry about initiating the process again if you need to restart the browser. Microsoft said, "Now, after the browser is restarted and the previous session is restored, the split tab will also be restored."
This isn't the only improvement that has shipped to the feature. In September, Microsoft incorporated a vertical layout option to the split screen feature to enhance user navigation. The company is also testing a new capability to let users drag and drop a tab to open it alongside another webpage within the split screen feature.
You can check out the full changelog for the update, as outlined by Microsoft below:
EDGE VERSION 119.0.2151.44: FEATURE UPDATES
- Compression Dictionary Transport support. A version of the Compression Dictionary Transport feature is available for sites to use by participating in the associated origin trial. If your network uses a middlebox that inspects network traffic and/or you previously encountered issues with the ZSDCH feature, review the Considerations for zstd-based Shared Dictionary Compression for HTTP page which contains updated guidance.
- Behavioral changes to the beforeunload event. The behavior of the beforeunload event has changed such that calling preventDefault in a beforeunload event handler triggers a confirmation dialog. Setting returnValue to an empty string in a beforeunload event handler no longer triggers a confirmation dialog. This behavior takes effect starting in Microsoft Edge version 119. Administrators can temporarily opt out of this functionality by disabling the BeforeunloadEventCancelByPreventDefaultEnabled policy.
- Split screen restore improvements. Split screen allows you to simultaneously work on multiple tasks across two, side-by-side screens in one browsing tab to boost your productivity and multitask more efficiently. Now after the browser is restarted and the previous session is restored, the split tab will also be restored.
- Additional capability to manage sidebar apps. Administrators can utilize the "sidebar_auto_open_blocked" ExtensionSettings policy field to control the auto-open behavior of sidebar apps. For more information, see Detailed guide to the ExtensionSettings policy.
- Updates to Microsoft Edge enterprise sync settings page. When the ForceSyncTypes and SyncTypesListDisabled polices are used concurrently, the sync settings page (edge://settings/profiles/sync) accurately show the status for each data type.
EDGE VERSION 119.0.2151.44: POLICY UPDATES
New Policies
- SwitchIntranetSitesToWorkProfile - Switch intranet sites to a work profile
- SwitchSitesOnIEModeSiteListToWorkProfile - Switch sites on the IE mode site list to a work profile
- OrganizationalBrandingOnWorkProfileUIEnabled - Allow the use of your organization's branding assets from M365 on the profile-related UI of a work profile
