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PieterP84's avatar
PieterP84
Copper Contributor
Jan 31, 2023

Edge features list

While I appreciate the effort the developers put into expanding the Edge functionality, I also get frustrated when functionality doesn't have proper policies to turn it on/off.

 

A few examples:

- Read Aloud

  • msedge.exe --disable-features=msReadAloud,msShowReadAloudIconInAddressBar
    Currently this works, but there is no policy equivalent

- Citations

  • msedge.exe --disable-features=msEdgeCitations
    Currently this works, but there is no policy equivalent

- Sharing

  • Setting policy 'configure the share experience' to disabled does a good job of hiding the newer sharing hub flyout menu. Sadly enough, when selecting the address from the address bar (omnibox) you are presented with a 'Create QR code for this page' button instead. I have not found a way to turn off the QR Code Generator.

- Window Naming

  • No policy or command line parameter exists to turn off this feature as far as I know

- Bookmarks toolbar button

  • No policy or command line parameter exists to turn off this feature as far as I know. The only way this is configurable at the moment is by specifying 'show_toolbar_bookmarks_button' in the initial_preferences file, which doesn't work well in combination with ephemeral profiles. (only works one time

- and many others...

 

Just to be clear: I'm already running edge in kiosk (public browsing) mode. You would expect a minimal UI with a titlebar, optionally a (read-only) addressbar,... But instead you're presented with all that clutter. Even access to the ellipsis menu button, task manager, breakouts to other websites through 'Help and Feedback' > 'What's new', 'Report unsafe website',... are still available in kiosk mode.

 

The only other option that exists is to run the browser in digital signage kiosk mode, but then the user gets a full-screen experience with no access to other applications in Windows. So that's useless if you want to give the user access to more than 1 application.

 

I understand Edge works like Chrome with prefs, settings, features, switches and flags. But I really hope that https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/deployedge/microsoft-edge-policies are going to be put in place for every feature open to the main public. Customizability is key for large enterprise environments.

 

Now that I got that off my chest...

 

Does anybody know if Microsoft has documented the different prefs, settings, features, switches and flags somewhere? Some of it I can find by reading the https://source.chromium.org/, but Microsoft changes to Edge are of course not there.

5 Replies

  • PieterP84's avatar
    PieterP84
    Copper Contributor
    Oh god, just noticed another button that was added without the possibility to disable it through policy --> command palette
    https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-edge/devtools-guide-chromium/experimental-features/edge-command-palette

    If you need your browser clean/tamper-proof, the only way I found to disable it for the moment is with --disable-features=msEdgeDevToolsToaster
  • PieterP84's avatar
    PieterP84
    Copper Contributor
    Small update on Read Aloud:

    We sent in a Design Change Request to the Edge team regarding the Read Aloud feature. This policy has been implemented as of version 113.0.1774.35 :
    https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/deployedge/microsoft-edge-relnote-stable-channel#version-1130177435-may-5-2023

    https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/DeployEdge/microsoft-edge-policies#readaloudenabled

    If you download the new ADMX's you can already disable that feature. This setting will also be added to the Settings Picker in Intune soon (expected by the end of May 2023).
    • tistou's avatar
      tistou
      Bronze Contributor

      PieterP84 

       

      Thanks for sharing

      It is possible to disable (remove the button) for the immersive reader ?

      • PieterP84's avatar
        PieterP84
        Copper Contributor

        tistou 

         

        Sadly enough I haven't filed design change requests for the other points I've mentioned cause I've got some bigger fish to fry for the moment. They are time-consuming and sometimes even mentally exhausting. But maybe one day I'll give it a go when I've replenished my energy. 😅

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