Earlier this week, Google announced that it is moving away from the 6-week update cycle for Chrome, and was now moving to a 4-week update frequency. The change was made to ensure that users get to experience new features at a faster pace and don’t have to wait much longer to experience something new. Well, Microsoft Edge is now following in the footsteps of Chrome and it is now moving to a 4-week update cycle as well. The move is not surprising, as the new Edge is based on the same Chromium engine as Chrome, which means new core features can be added to it at the same cadence as its Google counterpart.
4-week update cycle for average users, optional 8-week cycle for Enterprise customers
And just like Google, Microsoft will also offer an extended update cycle option that sees Edge updates released after a span of 8 weeks. This will come in handy for customers who rely on computing infrastructure which requires more time to adjust to these updates, or systems that are not always tethered to an internet connection. Enterprise customers will have to opt for the Extended Stable update cycle, and in case they don’t do it, the default 4-week update cycle will be enabled for them.
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“Starting with Stable channel version 94, Microsoft Edge is moving to a 4-week major release cycle cadence. However, we recognize that enterprise customers who manage complex environments need more time to plan and test Microsoft Edge updates.”
On the other hand, Microsoft will keep pushing security updates every two weeks, irrespective of the update cycle you opt for. Again, this is the same approach that Google has implemented for releasing Chrome security updates. Regarding the update rollout process, Microsoft notes that the trigger for major releases in the Beta and Stable channels is an equivalent Chrome release.
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Security updates will keep arriving every second week for both Edge and Chrome
The 4-week update cycle for Microsoft Edge begins with version 94 that will be released via the stable channel in the week of September 23, 2021, while the beta channel will get it in first week of the same month. As for Chrome, it is also moving to the new update cycle in the same month with the release of Chrome v94 via the stable channel.
