Microsoft Edge Browser To Mirror Google Chrome's Accelerated 4-Week Release Cycle

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Even though Microsoft and Google are currently involved in a war of words regarding paying for aggregated news content, things are a lot more cordial when it comes to browser software. Google announced earlier this week that it is shifting to an accelerated four-week release cycle for the browser. "As we have improved our testing and release processes for Chrome and deployed bi-weekly security updates to improve our patch gap, it became clear that we could shorten our release cycle," said Google at the time.

Given that the Microsoft Edge browser also uses the Chromium engine, it was only a matter of time before the Redmond-based software giant made the same shift in its release cycle. "As contributors to the Chromium project, we look forward to the new four-week major release cycle cadence that Google announced, to help deliver that innovation to our customers even faster," said the Edge team in a blog post this afternoon.

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Like Chrome, Edge is currently on version 89, but the shift to the accelerated four-week release cadence won't begin until Edge 94. This lines up with Google's commitment to start its adjustment with Chrome 94. However, unlike Google, Microsoft has a rigid timeline set for the stable channel release Edge 94, which will occur on the week of September 23rd.

For enterprise customers that aren't so keen on the four-week cycle, Microsoft will offer another option called Extended Stable. Extended Stable will be on an eight-week release schedule concerning new features but will include bi-weekly security updates (which are more critical in the enterprise sector).

Microsoft Edge is increasingly becoming a popular option for internet users not happy with Chrome. While it is still far behind in market share than Chrome, Edge is in a virtual tie with Mozilla Firefox as the world's second most popular cross-platform web browser.