Microsoft Edge 140 Released with Scareware Blocker and HTTPS-first

Microsoft is releasing the stable version of Microsoft Edge 140 ( full version tag is 140.0.3485.54), which comes with several new features, improvements, and bug fixes. Here are the details.

What's new in Edge 140

• Connected Feature Control  Admins now have centralized control over cloud and AI-powered services in Microsoft Edge, like Translate and Automatic Tab Grouping. The new policy lets organizations customize Edge to meet their data protection standards by enabling or disabling specific features from a single portal called Edge Management Service.
  Note: This feature is in public testing and can be accessed by selecting the browser version you want in the Microsoft 365 Admin Center.
• DiskCacheSize policy recommendation We recommend that you do not configure a custom value for the DiskCacheSize policy because Microsoft Edge automatically manages the cache size for optimal performance. Setting a small value may reduce performance and increase network load.
• Scareware Blocker policy. This is a new AI-powered feature that is designed to identify pages that attempt to convince potential victims that their device is infected with malware. Availability and capabilities may vary by device type, hardware configuration, region, and platform.
  The feature is enabled by default only on devices with more than 2 GB of RAM and at least five processor cores. Devices that do not meet these minimum system requirements may require manual activation or may not support the feature at all.
  Administrators can control the availability of this feature using the ScarewareBlockerProtectionEnabled policy.
• Tab groups: Auto-save and quick return. Microsoft Edge now automatically saves tab groups, making it easy for users to pick up where they left off. Organized tab groups are saved and available to reopen at any time, whether the user switches between tasks or restarts the browser.
  Administrators can control the availability of the feature using the SyncTypesListDisabled policy with the "openTabs" data type.
• HTTPS-first mode. Microsoft Edge now automatically switches HTTP connections to HTTPS when possible. If a site doesn’t support HTTPS, Microsoft Edge displays a warning highlighting the security risk. This warning only appears for public sites, not private or manually entered HTTP URLs. Users can enable warnings on the page edge://settings, and administrators can control the availability of the feature using the HttpsOnlyMode policy.
• Update to third-party storage partitioning policies. The ThirdPartyStoragePartitioningBlockedForOrigins and  DefaultThirdPartyStoragePartitioningSetting policies have been deprecated since Microsoft Edge version 140 and will be completely removed in version 145. The recommended replacement for these policies is the requestStorageAccess() method.
• Improved Edge update notifications The Settings and more menu (»…» on the toolbar) has been improved to make it easier for users to know when a new browser update is available.
• Extension access If a user has at least one extension enabled, the puzzle icon will be permanently visible in the toolbar. Also, in the Settings and more menu, the Extensions item now directly links to the edge://extensionsEdge Add-ons page and store.
  Note: This change is rolling out in stages, so you may not see the change on your device right now.
• Update to the Collected Cookies dialog. The Collected Cookies dialog has been redesigned to improve page responsiveness. The functionality and user interface remain unchanged from previous versions.
• Reset Microsoft Edge Enterprise sync Users experiencing issues syncing browser data across other devices signed in to the same account can reset sync data from Microsoft servers in Settings ( edge://settings/profiles/sync/reset). This option should only be used if sync data is available on one of the user's devices or if you want to remove all sync data from the servers.
  Note In Microsoft Edge 139, reset sync is enabled for users experiencing the MIP "No Permissions" error, and in Microsoft Edge 140, reset sync will be enabled for users experiencing the MIP "Service Disabled" error.
• Microsoft AutoUpdate policy update: The MAUEnabled policy allowed administrators to continue using Microsoft AutoUpdate on macOS. Because Microsoft Edge now uses EdgeUpdate, the MAUEnabled policy has been removed from Microsoft Edge 140.
• AI-powered video creation in Bing. Bing Video Creator lets you generate videos based on text queries using Sora technology. The feature is only available to personal Microsoft account holders and offers free and quick video creation modes. The quick mode can be paid for with Microsoft Rewards points.
• Improved productivity and learning efficiency Edge users can now get contextual information and insights without leaving the current page, thanks to AI-powered recognition and Bing Visual Search. Visual Search can be accessed by right-clicking on an image and selecting Visual Search from the drop-down menu.
• Automatic unloading of "sleeping" tabs. Tabs that have been in sleep mode for a long time will be automatically unloaded from RAM. When you switch to such a tab, it will be reloaded. The behavior can be controlled using the AutoDiscardSleepingTabsEnabled policy. This policy is activated if the SleepingTabsEnabled policy is enabled.
• Reduce IP Address Change Notification policy update. The ReduceIPAddressChangeNotificationEnabled policy allows macOS administrators to control the behavior of IP address change notifications. Disabling this policy can help resolve issues related to VPN or proxy connections.
• Changes to the Wallet feature in Microsoft Edge. The developers are gradually phasing out the Wallet feature. This affects the Wallet feature in Settings and the Mini Wallet, accessible by clicking the profile icon on the toolbar.

New policies

• AdditionalDnsQueryTypesEnabled  - Allows DNS queries for more types of DNS records.
• HttpsOnlyMode   - Allows enabling HTTPS-Only mode.
• LocalNetworkAccessAllowedForUrls - Allows sites to send requests to local network endpoints.
• LocalNetworkAccessBlockedForUrls  - Blocks sites from sending requests to local network endpoints.
• ReduceIPAddressChangeNotificationEnabled  - Enables the Reduce IP Address Change Notification feature.
• RestrictCoreSharingOnRenderer  - Restricts the sharing of CPU cores for the rendering process.
• ServiceWorkerAutoPreloadEnabled  - Allows the ServiceWorker to send navigation requests without waiting for it to start.

Obsolete Policies

• DefaultThirdPartyStoragePartitioningSetting  - The default setting for third-party storage partitioning.
• ThirdPartyStoragePartitioningBlockedForOrigins  - Disables third-party storage partitioning for the specified top-level origins.
• UserAgentReduction  - Enables or disables User-Agent Reduction.
• AutomaticHttpsDefault   - Configures Automatic HTTPS.
• MAUEnabled  - Use Microsoft AutoUpdate as the default updater for Microsoft Edge.

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