Microsoft Edge for Business is now available, helping organizations maximize productivity and security

[Guest Microsoft Edge Team]

Microsoft Edge for Business, the new, dedicated work experience for Microsoft Edge announced at Build, is now available across all supported platforms, including mobile! With native enterprise grade security, productivity, manageability, and AI built in, Edge for Business is the next step in our journey to deliver the best browser for business. Edge for Business is an evolution of Microsoft Edge, created to enable organizations to maximize productivity and security, and designed to create separation between work and personal browsing.

The lines between work and personal have been blurred with hybrid work, with organizations seeking to enhance their security posture while users want privacy and separation in their browsing. As a result, organizations end up supporting multiple browsers, often at the cost of increasing the organization’s surface area for cyberattacks and creating a cumbersome user experience. With Edge for Business, we are introducing a new, automatic switching behavior to separate work and personal browsing into dedicated browser windows, enabling organizations to standardize on one browser to meet both needs. With separate caches and storage locations, user information stays separate and personal data can be excluded from enterprise sync, giving users the privacy they want. Meanwhile, IT maintains controls over the security and compliance posture of Microsoft Edge, whether work or personal. Edge for Business also extends to use cases beyond managed devices, including support for unmanaged devices (currently in preview) and mobile, so users can be supported wherever and however they like to work. With Edge for Business, users will still be able to experience all their favorite Edge productivity features such as Workspaces, the sidebar, and AI features including Compose and Bing Chat Enterprise, the new AI-powered chat for work with commercial data protection. Starting with today’s release, all users signing in with their Entra ID (formerly Azure Active Directory) will automatically receive Edge for Business – no separate download required. Users will be notified of the change through an in-product banner. An updated Edge icon with a briefcase designates they’re in the work browser window, and passwords, favorites, and data currently associated with their work profile are maintained. Additionally, limited personal to work browser window switching will be enabled by default – when users that have both work and personal profiles try to access a work site in the personal browser window, such as Microsoft 365 apps and services, the site will automatically open in the work browser window. From an IT perspective, all policies, settings, and configurations previously set by an organization will be automatically transitioned to Edge for Business, and IT will maintain full control over policy and feature management and configuration with Edge for Business. And with the Microsoft Edge management service now available, customers can manage Edge for Business in one, easy-to-navigate place. In coming releases, support for bi-directional switching between the work browser window and the lightly managed personal browser window will also be made available by default to help users maintain separation in their browsing, in addition to more look and feel enhancements, including optional organizational branding. We’re excited to continue improving Edge for Business to maximize corporate security and user productivity at the same time. For more information on Edge for Business, check out our FAQ page.

 

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