WhatsApp has ditched support for Microsoft Edge. But don’t worry, this isn’t the same Microsoft Edge that now ranks as the second most popular web browser on the planet and comes preinstalled with every version of Windows 10. No, no – this is the original Microsoft Edge.
Microsoft debuted its shiny new Edge web browser alongside Windows 10 back in summer 2015. It was designed to replace the ageing Internet Explorer and boasted a number of new technologies and features. However, it proved to be pretty slow and websites didn’t optimise their content for the new software, so it quickly became a punchline. Earlier this year, Microsoft relaunched the browser – with the same name, confusing I know – built on the same Chromium codebase used by Google Chrome.
Sharing the same underlying code as the browser used by almost two-thirds of all desktop users worldwide means thousands of browser extensions and virtually every website is optimised and compatible with the new version of Microsoft Edge. Coupled with some clever new tweaks and optimisations (that mean it’s much less of a battery life and processor drain on macOS than Chrome), Edge has surged into second place – gaining thousands and thousands of users in less than 12 months since its launch.
With the original, hugely unsuccessful Microsoft Edge now banished to the history books, the team at WhatsApp has decided to stop supporting the app. That makes sense, especially since the latest update to Windows 10 includes the new Chromium-based Edge as the default web browser for everyone.
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When trying to login to WhatsApp Web, which allows WhatsApp users to send and receive text messages, images, PDFs, and videos from their web browser, using the original version of Microsoft Edge, a message is displayed that reads: “To use WhatsApp, update Windows 10 to get the latest version of Microsoft Edge or use Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, or Opera.”
