[German]Microsoft has updated the Edge browser to version 111.0.1661.51 on March 21, 2023 in the Stable Channel, and there is version 110.0.1587.78 in the Extended Stable Channel. In addition, there is probably a version 109.0.1518.95 that should run on Windows Server 2012 R2. I'll summarize this in a collective post and also have two tips on how to hide the annoying Bing button in Edge 111 as well as how to stop the Adobe PDF integration ads.
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Edge 111.0.1661.51 (Stable Channel)
As early as March 21, 2023, Microsoft has updated the Edge browser to version 111.0.1661.51. According to the release notes, the update in the stable channel to version 111.0.1661.51 ) serves to fix some bugs and performance issues. The vulnerabilities closed by Google in the Chromium project on March 21, 2023 (see Google Chrome 111.0.5563.110/.111 (Desktop) – and for Android/iOS) are probably not yet fixed in the above Edge release. So far I haven't found an Edge update that fixes the Chromium vulnerabilities.
Edge 110.0.1587.78 (Extended Stable Channel)
As of March 23, 2023, Microsoft has updated the Edge browser in the Extended Stable Channel to version 110.0.1587.78. Blog reader EP pointed it out in this comment (thanks for that). The latest version of Microsoft Edge in the Extended Stable Channel is available in the Microsoft Update Catalog.
Edge 109.0.1518.95 für Server 2012 R2
The Edge development branch 109 is the last version that is still available for Windows 7 SP1, Windows Server 2008 R2 as well as Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 / R2. Since Windows Server 2012 R2 is still officially supported until October 2023, people have asked here on the blog about updates for Edge 109 for this platform.
Blog reader EP pointed out to me in the English-language blog in this comment that Microsoft had released Edge v109.0.1518.95 in the Microsoft Update Catalog. Windows Server 2012 /R2 administrators should test whether this update can be used on their server to update Edge 109.
Remove Bing button and Adobe PDF test
Some users may be wondering how to get rid of the annoying Bing button in Edge or Adobe PDF integration in the browser. Here are two short information on these two topics.
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Getting rid of the Bing button
Microsoft introduced the "Bing button" for accessing AI-powered Bing features in the Edge 111 branch. I had reported in the blog post Edge 111.0.1661.41 – with new feature, security fixes and annoying Bing button. Blog reader McAlex777 pointed out in this comment that you may launch the registry editor (with run as administrator), navigate to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge
and add the 32 bit-DWORD value HubsSidebarEnabled set to 0 to get rid of the Bing button. The following tweet references to this article on ghacks.net, where the topic "removing Bing button" has been described in more details.
Block advertising for PDF test
In February 2023 I had reported in the blog post Microsoft Edge gets Adobe Acrobat as PDF reader that Microsoft will implement Adobe Acrobat as the new default PDF reader in the Edge browser. Now users may get an annoying ad displayed in the toolbar, but to test this PDF integration in Edge.
Martin Brinkmann points out in the above tweet that you can remove this button. He has published the details in this blog post on ghacks.net.
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