[German]Microsoft has just released Edge version 108.0.1462.46. In the Microsoft Edge browser, Microsoft "removed" the "Next" button (Forward button) some time ago (from version 102). But there is a way to reactivate this button. And, if not yet known: Support for Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 is removed as of Microsoft Edge version 110.

Microsoft Edge version 108.0.1462.46

Microsoft has upgraded the Edge browser in the Stable and Extended Stable channel to version 108.0.1462.46 on December 8, 2022 (thanks to the readership for pointing this out). According to the release notes, the update to this version only includes some bug fixes (Fixed various bugs and performance issues for Stable and Extended Stable release). Edge should be updated automatically.

Windows 7/8.1 support ends

I'm sure most blog readers are aware that support for Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8.1 and their server counterparts will end in 2023 (the last time there will be security updates for clients is January 2023). Google has announced that it will end support for Chrome for these platforms.

Microsoft also plans to end support for Windows 7 SP1 and Windows 8.1 with Edge version 110. Neowin just addressed it in this article, quoting from the notices for Edge 110.0.1543.0, which is in the Developer Channel. It states:

Starting with Chromium 110, Windows 7, 8 and 8.1 will no longer be supported (Sunsetting support for Windows 7 / 8/8.1 in early 2023 – Google Chrome Community)

This means that there will then be no more Edge updates on these platforms because Microsoft will have to rely on Google's Chromium browser. However, the old versions of Edge will certainly continue to work under these operating systems.

Addendum: Microsoft just published this blog post announcing that Microsoft Edge Browser version 109 and Webview2 Runtime version 109 will be the last versions to support Windows 7 Extended Security Update (ESU) and Windows 8/8.1. The WebView2 SDK versions 1.0.1519.0 and later will no longer support Windows 7 and Windows 8/8.1.

Currently, users of the above operating systems should see the message in Edge with a prompt to switch to Windows 10. I had described in the blog post Windows 7/8.1/Server 2012R2: Deactivate Google Chrome notification to upgrade to Windows 10 how to disable this notice.

A user also pointed out in a comment this Neowin post that Edge will still support the old Manifest V2 extensions until January 2024. This is in response to Google's announcement at the end of September, where revised plans to discontinue Manifest V2 extensions were revealed. Google will support the extensions one year longer, so old extensions will continue to work.

Activate the old Forware button behavior

I hadn't noticed it before, since I don't use Edge. But with Edge 102, Microsoft has made a visual innovation: The Next button in the browser is now only displayed if there are actually pages in the history that you could scroll to (see the following image).

The days I came across this article at Neowin, which deals with the disappeared forward button in Edge 108.

1. Go to the three-dot menu in the upper right corner and select the Settings menu item.

2. In the Settings page open the burger menu (three horizontal lines) in the upper left corner and selected the command Appearance.

3. In the details page go to "Choose which buttons to show on the toolbar", and change the value for Forward button from Show Automatically to Show Always.

Then the button should be permanently visible again.