Microsoft Edge Dev channel gets its first major version 87 release, with lots of new features

Arif Bacchus

Microsoft Edge Dev

Right on time, Microsoft has released a new update to the Edge Dev channel. This week’s update is the first from version 87 of the browser, and it delivers lots of new features. Here’s a look at everything you need to know about Dev channel update 87.0.634.0.

First, there are the added features. Here, Microsoft added the ability to open and save as for downloaded items on the downloads shelf before they begin downloading. Also added is the ability to view a PDF’s table of contents and use it to navigate to locations within it. Have a look below for everything else that’s new:

  • Added a Website Permission Setting for sites that ask to open an application after clicking on a link.
  • Changed ClickOnce support to be enabled by default.
  • Enabled support for a Printing Paper Size Default management policy from Chromium.
  • Enabled support for management policies for Default File System Read Guard Setting, Default File System Write Guard Setting, File System Read Ask For Urls, File System Read Blocked For Urls, File System Write Ask For Urls, and File System Write Blocked For Urls from Chromium.

As is typical this release also brings lots of improved reliability and changed behaviors. Of note is a big fix for an issue on Mac where users running the Big Sur may have issues with all versions of Edge either crashing or not launching. Also worth mentioning is a fix for an issue where setting the browser to delete cookies when it’s closed but also setting some exceptions sometimes results in those exceptions getting deleted. Have a look below for some other things you need to know about and check the full list at Microsoft, here:

  • Fixed an issue where opening a local file sometimes crashes the browser.
  • Fixed an issue where exporting a Collection in an InPrivate window crashes the browser.
  • Fixed a crash on launch.
  • Fixed a crash related to sync.
  • Fixed an issue where zooming in PDFs crashes the tab on certain devices.
  • Fixed an occasional crash when uninstalling a website installed as an app.
  • Fixed an issue where opening Edge from a shortcut pinned to the Taskbar sometimes doesn’t associate the window with that shortcut but instead creates a new entry on the Taskbar.
  • Fixed an issue where disabling the setting to show search results in the address bar from local data like favorites and history sometimes results in the inability to directly navigate to certain URLs like chrome:// URLs, since they have to first redirect to edge:// URLs.
  • Fixed an issue where some website permissions in Settings are missing icons.
  • Fixed an issue where opening a link that initiates a download in a new tab sometimes fails to start the download if the setting is enabled to choose where to save every downloaded file.

Finally, there are the known issues. These again haven’t changed from the past few weeks. You’ll still have issues with ad-blocking extensions and YouTube, tabs crashing, duplicate favorites, Edge windows becoming black, and wobbling when scrolling. There’s also still the issue with multiple audio outputs not working with Edge, and Gmail failing to load if  Kaspersky Internet Suite is installed.

We’re hoping Microsoft addresses those issues soon, as they’ve been quite persistent over the past couple of releases. Get downloading now, and let us know how this version of Edge is working for you by dropping us a comment below.