Microsoft Edge is about to enter another dimension entirely

web browsers
(Image credit: Softulka / Shutterstock)

Microsoft Edge Insider channels, which give members early access to new builds, have been made available on two additional platforms: HoloLens 2 and Windows 10X.

While Microsoft has demoed its flagship browser on Windows 10X before, this is the first time Edge Chromium has appeared on the company’s HoloLens mixed reality platform.

Users of HoloLens 2 headsets will now be able to take advantage of the full range of functionality on offer with the new Edge browser - and even preview features currently unavailable in stable builds.

Microsoft Edge for HoloLens 2

Running on Windows Core OS (WCOS), HoloLens has until now been incapable of running legacy Win32 applications, including the new Microsoft Edge browser.

For this reason, HoloLens 2 users have had to make do with the old HTML-based version of Edge, which offers few of the advanced features that have allowed Edge Chromium to seize a sizable share of the browser market in recent months.

However, the MSIX version of Edge released to Insider channels addresses this interoperability problem, using a SHIM library to run the application as if it were native to WCOS.

The Insider program is broken down into three strands: Beta (major updates every 6 weeks), Dev (updated weekly) and Canary (updated daily). Naturally, the Beta channel offers the most stable Edge preview experience, while Canary delivers the most experimental features in their earliest stages.

Owners of HoloLens 2 headsets and anyone with access to a Windows 10x emulator (the OS has yet to enter general availability) can install Edge via any of the three channels, depending on personal preference.

The arrival of Edge Insider channels on HoloLens also hints that an MSIX may soon land for the Xbox platform, which is also based on WCOS, although Microsoft has not released a statement on the matter.

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Via Windows Central

Joel Khalili
News and Features Editor

Joel Khalili is the News and Features Editor at TechRadar Pro, covering cybersecurity, data privacy, cloud, AI, blockchain, internet infrastructure, 5G, data storage and computing. He's responsible for curating our news content, as well as commissioning and producing features on the technologies that are transforming the way the world does business.