Microsoft has issued a new support article that reveals that consumer editions of Windows 7 SP1 and Windows 8.1 will receive Microsoft Edge Chromium automatically via Windows Update.
According to the new information, the operating systems will get the browser installed, pinned to the taskbar, and its shortcut will appear on the Desktop. It won’t replace Internet Explorer, and won’t change your default browser settings.
The change will be applied to Windows 8.1 or later (Home, Professional, Ultimate, Starter, or Core Edition only), and to Windows 7 SP1 or later (Home, Professional, Ultimate, Starter, or Core Edition only). This update is not intended to target Enterprise devices. Devices that run Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 on Active Directory or Azure Active Directory domain are also excluded from this automatic update.
The Edge browser is packaged into the following patches.
- KB4567409 for Windows 8.1
- KB4567409 for Windows 7
It is worth mentioning that Windows 7 is no longer supported, but this didn’t stop Microsoft from releasing Edge for this OS. The company is interested in growing user base for its new browser, and Windows 7 still has plenty of active installations.