Windows 10: Announcing Microsoft Edge WebView2 General Availability

Brink · Oct 19, 2020

Today, we are excited to announce that Microsoft Edge WebView2 for Win32 C/C++ is generally available and ready for use in production applications! With todayâs announcement, we are officially releasing a forward-compatible WebView2 SDK along with production-ready WebView2 Runtime. These can be used in any Win32 C/C++ application, and are supported across existing Windows versions.

We know a lot of you are also eagerly awaiting our .NET and WinUI 3 GA, and they are coming soon, too. Youâll find some details below, but you can also subscribe to our new announcements page or check our release notes to stay up-to-date on everything about WebView2.

Before we get into details, we also want to thank all of the developers that have been with us on the journey through preview, helping us shape the product through early adoption and continual feedback. We look forward to continuing to partner on what comes next.

So, with that, letâs talk a bit more about WebView2 and what the GA release means.

WebView2 is Microsoftâs new embedded web control, built on top of Microsoft Edge (Chromium). This means that as a Windows app developer you will now have access to the latest web tech in both existing and new apps. WebView2 lets you combine the ease and agility of developing for the web with the power of building a native desktop application. If youâre not familiar with WebView2 yet, our Ignite talk this year provides a great overview to bring you up to speed.

WebView2 is also a part of Project Reunion, which means it will be available across Win32 and UWP applications, as well as in a few different UI stacks. Here is a quick recap of the current frameworks, and where things are at:

Win32 C/C++ â GA today

.NET (WinForms & WPF) â preview available, and GA planned by end of 2020

WinUI 3 â supported in WinUI 3 preview for UWP and Win32, and GA planned with WinUI 3 GA

WebView2 also provides two different distribution models â Evergreen and Fixed Version. Evergreen WebView2 is the mode in which the underlying web platform (WebView2 Runtime) is always up-to-date and automatically updated by Microsoft, giving you access to the latest web capabilities and security fixes. The Evergreen WebView2 Runtime is also shared by all apps adopting the Evergreen model, saving disk footprint.

For apps that have strict compatibility requirements, the Fixed Version allows your app to bundle a copy of the WebView2 Runtime that doesnât self-update, and you as the developer are in control and responsible for updating the Runtime.

Evergreen â GA today

Fixed Version â available for preview for both Win32 C/C++ and .NET, and GA planned by end of 2020

For those of you following along with WebView2, you may know that during our preview stage we aimed to release a new SDK every 6 weeks. Going forward, weâll continue to be agile as both WebView2 SDK and Runtime updates will generally align with updates to Microsoft Edge Stable channel. With each Microsoft Edge Stable browser update you can expect:

An automatic update for apps using Evergreen WebView2 Runtime

New Fixed Version Runtime for apps opting to bundle the runtime themselves

Also, with each major version Microsoft Edge Stable browser update, you can expect an updated WebView2 SDK with new APIs. Developers will have the choice to stay on older forward compatible SDKs, or adopt the new SDK for new WebView2 APIs. We will also continue having the âPre-releaseâ SDKs like today to gather developer feedback on experimental APIs.

With todayâs GA release, our developer partners can also start releasing their WebView2 updates. Both the Office Add-Ins and Outlook teams have shared key product updates that build on top of WebView2, and we look forward to seeing their products roll out more broadly. We also have some more exciting partnerships that we look forward to sharing over the next few months.

Outlook Desktop (left) using WebView2 to re-use the Room Finder component from the Outlook Web App (right).

So, how do you get started? Itâs easy â take a look at our documentation to learn more, or follow along with our getting started guides for Win32 C/C++, WinForms, WPF, and WinUI 3. We also have a handful of more comprehensive samples available and are always looking for feedback. Be sure to also subscribe to our announcements page to stay tuned on future WebView2 updates.

And with that, happy codingâwe canât wait to see what you build!

â Lindsay Kubasik, Principal PM Lead, Microsoft Edge
â Limin Zhu, Senior Program Manager, Microsoft Edge
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Source: https://blogs.windows.com/msedgedev/...-availability/

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:)

Brink · Oct 19, 2020

New Microsoft Edge WebView2 SDK developer preview update now available

Last month at Build, we introduced the new WebView2 coming to Windows, powered by the upcoming Chromium-based Microsoft Edge. Today, we’re releasing a new update to the WebView2 SDK, and with it we’re ready to encourage a broader set of app developers to try the WebView2 preview and give us early feedback.

The WebView 2 preview has a limited scope, with support for an initial set of Win32 C++ APIs on Windows 10. Support for other Windows versions (Windows 7+ and Windows Server 2012 R2+) and UWP/WFP/WinForms support will become available in the future.

JE8KNQFwMzE

Learn more about WebView2 in our session from Build 2019: ““

With today’s SDK updates, WebView2 addresses a number of popular requests we heard during the initial preview, including supporting 32-bit WebView on 64-bit machines, the ability to disable devtools, the ability to disable status bar, and more. Going forward, our initial plan is to update the SDK roughly every six weeks, with our cadence and roadmap primarily driven by your feedback. You can receive information about new releases via our release notes or via the RSS feed of the WebView2 NuGet package.

About the control

The WebView2 control allows developers to host web content within your native apps. This hybrid approach lets you to share code with similar controls on other platforms or with your websites, to inject dynamic content into your native apps, and to leverage the rich and growing ecosystem of tools, frameworks, and talent around web technologies, among other benefits.

WebView2 can power a wide spectrum of apps and use cases. For example, we’re working closely with the Office team to bring a WebView2-powered Add-ins experience to future versions of apps like Excel, which will allow add-ins to leverage the full-fidelity Chromium engine that powers Microsoft Edge.

Office add-ins such as this one by Lucidchart will be able to leverage the modern capabilities of Microsoft Edge, enabled by WebView2

A consistent foundation for web apps on all Windows devices

By building on the same Chromium-based foundation as the next version of Microsoft Edge, the new WebView2 control is compatible with the latest web platform capabilities and broadly interoperable with the web experiences you have already built. WebView2 is by default powered by the always up-to-date Microsoft Edge, so you can build your web content against the latest and most secure platform without worrying about fragmentation across Windows versions, or across your web content running in the browser and in your app.

For developers that need a fully locked-down web platform, we’re working on a bring-your-own mode, which will allow bundling a redistributable version of the browser with a WebView2 app. The redistributable browser powering WebView2 gets no automatic update; in this case, app developers are responsible for servicing and updating the WebView to receive security updates and new capabilities.

We recognize that many developers have invested in EdgeHTML and MSHTML-based web apps and hybrid apps over time. As we build out WebView2, we expect it to be a compelling successor for these developers, but we hear loud and clear that not every app is ready to move forward. Existing Windows applications built with Windows web technologies, such as EdgeHTML/MSHTML-based WebViews or WWA/HWA/PWA built on top of the UWP platform, will continue to work as-is without modification.

Getting started the preview

We’re early in our journey to provide a modern, robust WebView for Windows devices, and the future direction of WebView2 will be heavily influenced by your feedback. Visit our documentation to learn more about the developer preview, check out the getting-started tutorial, and share your feedback, suggestions, and details on your scenarios over at our feedback repo.

Have fun building!

– Limin Zhu, Program Manager, WebView
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Source: https://blogs.windows.com/msedgedev/...loper-preview/

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Brink · Oct 19, 2020

New Microsoft Edge WebView2 SDK developer preview update now available

Last month at Build, we introduced the new WebView2 coming to Windows, powered by the upcoming Chromium-based Microsoft Edge. Today, we’re releasing a new update to the WebView2 SDK, and with it we’re ready to encourage a broader set of app developers to try the WebView2 preview and give us early feedback.

The WebView 2 preview has a limited scope, with support for an initial set of Win32 C++ APIs on Windows 10. Support for other Windows versions (Windows 7+ and Windows Server 2012 R2+) and UWP/WFP/WinForms support will become available in the future.

JE8KNQFwMzE

Learn more about WebView2 in our session from Build 2019: ““

With today’s SDK updates, WebView2 addresses a number of popular requests we heard during the initial preview, including supporting 32-bit WebView on 64-bit machines, the ability to disable devtools, the ability to disable status bar, and more. Going forward, our initial plan is to update the SDK roughly every six weeks, with our cadence and roadmap primarily driven by your feedback. You can receive information about new releases via our release notes or via the RSS feed of the WebView2 NuGet package.

About the control

The WebView2 control allows developers to host web content within your native apps. This hybrid approach lets you to share code with similar controls on other platforms or with your websites, to inject dynamic content into your native apps, and to leverage the rich and growing ecosystem of tools, frameworks, and talent around web technologies, among other benefits.

WebView2 can power a wide spectrum of apps and use cases. For example, we’re working closely with the Office team to bring a WebView2-powered Add-ins experience to future versions of apps like Excel, which will allow add-ins to leverage the full-fidelity Chromium engine that powers Microsoft Edge.

Office add-ins such as this one by Lucidchart will be able to leverage the modern capabilities of Microsoft Edge, enabled by WebView2

A consistent foundation for web apps on all Windows devices

By building on the same Chromium-based foundation as the next version of Microsoft Edge, the new WebView2 control is compatible with the latest web platform capabilities and broadly interoperable with the web experiences you have already built. WebView2 is by default powered by the always up-to-date Microsoft Edge, so you can build your web content against the latest and most secure platform without worrying about fragmentation across Windows versions, or across your web content running in the browser and in your app.

For developers that need a fully locked-down web platform, we’re working on a bring-your-own mode, which will allow bundling a redistributable version of the browser with a WebView2 app. The redistributable browser powering WebView2 gets no automatic update; in this case, app developers are responsible for servicing and updating the WebView to receive security updates and new capabilities.

We recognize that many developers have invested in EdgeHTML and MSHTML-based web apps and hybrid apps over time. As we build out WebView2, we expect it to be a compelling successor for these developers, but we hear loud and clear that not every app is ready to move forward. Existing Windows applications built with Windows web technologies, such as EdgeHTML/MSHTML-based WebViews or WWA/HWA/PWA built on top of the UWP platform, will continue to work as-is without modification.

Getting started the preview

We’re early in our journey to provide a modern, robust WebView for Windows devices, and the future direction of WebView2 will be heavily influenced by your feedback. Visit our documentation to learn more about the developer preview, check out the getting-started tutorial, and share your feedback, suggestions, and details on your scenarios over at our feedback repo.

Have fun building!

– Limin Zhu, Program Manager, WebView
Click to expand...

Source: https://blogs.windows.com/msedgedev/...loper-preview/

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Edwin · Oct 19, 2020

New Chromium based Microsoft Edge now generally available

That list is internal services, has nuthin to do with background tasks.

Windows 10: Announcing Microsoft Edge WebView2 General Availability

Announcing Microsoft Edge WebView2 General Availability

Announcing Microsoft Edge WebView2 General Availability

Announcing Microsoft Edge WebView2 General Availability

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