Windows 10: Microsoft Edge WebView2: do I REALLY need it?

Sammy888 · May 18, 2022

This is taking up a lot of my resources and it's always running. I don't use Edge as a browser in W11 nor do I use Widgets. I don't have Office installed either.I know I cannot natively uninstall Microsoft Edge WebView2, I can uninstall with many third party uninstallers though. However, in doing so will this create problems elsewhere?In other words, besides Microsoft Edge and Widgets, what purpose does Microsoft Edge WebView2 serve and what consequences might there be with W11 stability if I remove it?Thanks

:)

Brink · May 18, 2022

Microsoft Edge WebView2 for .NET and more now available

Today, we are excited to announce that Microsoft Edge WebView2 is now generally available for use in production .NET 5, .NET Core, and .NET Framework WinForms and WPF applications on existing Windows versions! Additionally, we are thrilled to announce that WebView2’s Fixed Version distribution mode is also generally available for production applications.

Previously, at Build, we introduced the .NET preview of WebView2, Microsoft’s latest browser control built on the new Chromium-based Microsoft Edge that renders web content (HTML / CSS / JavaScript) in .NET applications. In October, we announced that WebView2 would be generally available for Win32 C/C++ applications.

We want to thank all of our early users and developers that engaged with us throughout the WebView2 Preview period. The tremendous amount of support and enthusiasm we’ve received from the community has been unparalleled. Constant feedback, bug reports, and feature requests have helped shape the WebView2 product roadmap and we look forward to continuing to respond to the needs of the community.

To learn more check out our documentation, a history of .NET browser controls, our Win32 announcement, additional WebView2 resources, or watch the video below from :

Going forward, we will continue updating the WebView2 SDK approximately every 6 weeks driven by your feedback. To keep up with the latest updates checkout our Release Notes and follow the WebView2 Announcements Repo.

Getting Started

To get started with WebView2, check out our getting started guides:

Getting started guide for Windows Forms

Getting started guide for WPF

Getting started guide for WinUI 3.0

Getting started guide for Win32

Sharing your feedback

Your feedback drives our roadmap and prioritization. Please share your opinions, suggestions, and details on your scenarios in our feedback repo. We appreciate your help!

We can’t wait to see what you build!

– Palak Goel, Program Manager, Microsoft Edge
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Source: https://blogs.windows.com/msedgedev/...ribution-mode/

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Brink · May 18, 2022

Announcing Microsoft Edge WebView2 General Availability

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 today’s 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. You’ll 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, let’s talk a bit more about WebView2 and what the GA release means.

WebView2 is Microsoft’s 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 you’re 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++ – GA today

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

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

WebView2 also provides two different distribution models – 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 doesn’t self-update, and you as the developer are in control and responsible for updating the Runtime.

Evergreen – GA today

Fixed Version – 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, we’ll 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 “Pre-release” SDKs like today to gather developer feedback on experimental APIs.

With today’s 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? It’s easy – 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 coding—we can’t wait to see what you build!

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

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Brink · May 18, 2022

WebView2 Windows App SDK, WinUI2, Runtime, and CDP Helper Updates

We’ve been thrilled by the positive feedback, questions, and level of engagement from the developer community since the initial release of WebView2. Since then, we have released 7 updated SDKs with new features and bug fixes driven by your feedback. You can catch up on what’s new in our talk from Microsoft Ignite:

Today, we’re excited to share four new updates on WebView2:

Windows App SDK – WebView2 Public Preview

WebView2 on WinUI2 (UWP) Public Preview

Deployment of WebView2 Runtime

Chrome DevTools Protocol (CDP) Helper

Windows App SDK (Public Preview): WebView2 is now available in the Windows App SDK. Please visit the Windows App SDK website to learn more about how to get started building Windows applications.

WebView2 on WinUI2 [UWP Support] (Public Preview): We’ve heard feedback from several customers about support for WebView2 in their existing WinUI2 based UWP apps and have subsequently worked with the WinUI team to backport our WebView2 control into WinUI2. This will be the way forward for UWP apps running on desktop to adopt WebView2. We are excited to hear your feedback and aim to GA this version of our control in the first half of 2022. Please view our github post for more info!

WebView2 Runtime Deployment: We have been working to increase the availability of the WebView2 Runtime on Windows machines. We are happy to announce two updates on this effort. First, the WebView2 Runtime will be inbox in Windows 11 machines. Second, we’re seeing many applications, including Microsoft Office, starting to deploy the WebView2 Runtime with their applications. To date, the WebView2 Runtime has been installed on over 200 million Windows devices! The increased ubiquity of the WebView2 Runtime will make it easier to deploy WebView2 applications in the preferred Evergreen distribution mode.

WebView2 CDP Helper (Preview): We have released the WebView2 CDP Extension to make it easier for .NET developers to utilize CDP APIs in their WebView2 applications. CDP, Chrome DevTools Protocol, is a set of Chromium Open Source APIs traditionally used to instrument, inspect, debug, and profile chromium based browsers. WebView2 developers can take advantage of these APIs to add increased functionality beyond the current scope of available WebView2 APIs. Common use cases of CDP have been: cookie management (now incorporated into WebView2), enhanced emulation, screenshots, and much more! Checkout a recently released CDP tutorial for a step by step guide on how to use the WebView2 CDP Extension. Let us know in our feedback repo how you are using CDP to add extra functionality to your applications!

To stay up to date with the latest releases and updates subscribe to the WebView2 Announcements repo or checkout our release notes. If you have any questions, feature requests, or notice any bugs – let us know in the WebView2 feedback repo.
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Source: https://blogs.windows.com/msedgedev/...me-cdp-helper/

Windows 10: Microsoft Edge WebView2: do I REALLY need it?

Microsoft Edge WebView2: do I REALLY need it?

Microsoft Edge WebView2: do I REALLY need it?

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