January 15 Deployment - Expected Behavior re Favorites

Bronze Contributor

@Deleted Fawkes, could you ask one of the techs what behavior we can expect regarding Favorites import during the cutover from EdgeLegacy to EdgeChromium, and then let us know?

 

The reason I ask is that a number of us who were testing EdgeEnterpriseStable (Version 79.0.309.56) last week ran into a problem because EdgeEnterpriseStable (see "Deployment - Fonts, Favorites, Sync" and read down the comments) seemed to endlessly duplicate Favorites as EdgeEnterpriseStable was installed on a number of computers tied to the same MSA (that is, EdgeLegacy Favorites installed in EdgeChromium on the first computer, then again on the second computer (creating duplicate Favorites) and again on the third computer (creating triplicate Favorites).

 

I spent some time testing the newest EdgeChromiumBeta (Version 79.0.309.58) yesterday, and I noticed a change in behavior -- that is, when EdgeChromiumBeta (Version 79.0.309.58) was installed on Computer 1, Favorites were imported from EdgeLegacy, but that when EdgeChromiumBeta (Version 79.0.309.58) was installed on Computer 2 (and subsequent computers), the Favorites either (a) were not imported from EdgeLegacy or (b) the duplicates were caught during the process of installation and eliminated, so that the Favorites that were set up during installation on Computer 1 remained constant, with no duplication.

 

So this is my question, looking forward to the January cut over, using my husband's computers as a concrete example:

 

My husband has two computers, and his computers will be the test bed for me to prepare 17 other computers for the cut over (right now, I have them all blocked, and will release the block only after I understand what to expect).  Both of my husband's computers run EdgeLegacy, synced through his MSA.  My husband has not participated in the MEI program and has never installed an EdgeChromium build on any of his computers, so he does not have Chromium-side Favorites linked to his MSA; his Chromium-side slate is blank at this point. 

 

Based on my experimenting with EdgeChromiumBeta (Version 79.0.309.58), this is what I expect to happen when my husband's computers are cut over:

 

(1)  Computer 1 will cut over from EdgeLegacy to EdgeChromium.  EdgeLegacy will be hidden from menus and other access.  Favorites will be brought over from EdgeLegacy and an EdgeChromium Favorites set will be created on the Chromium-side server, linked to his MSA.

 

(2)  When Computer 2 cuts over from EdgeLegacy to EdgeChromium, EdgeLegacy Favorites from Computer 2 will not be added to the EdgeChromium Favorites already linked to my husband's MSA, and no duplicate entries will be created in the Chromium-side Favorites set linked to his MSA.

 

Is that (non-additive, no duplicates) the expected behavior?  Or is the expected behavior that each instance of cut over from EdgeLegacy to EdgeChromium will add an additional set of Favorites to the Chromium-side Favorites set, creating duplicate (or more) sets of Favorites as we experienced with EdgeEnterpriseStable (Version 79.0.309.56)?

 

I think that the answer to this question will be helpful to any of us who have, or are responsible for maintaining, multiple computers linked to the same MSA.

5 Replies

@tomscharbach I've been working on getting an answer for you, but wanted to check-in first. With the launch of Edge Stable last week, did you get your answer, or are you still waiting to get expected behavior specifics first? If so, let me know, and I'll try to expedite the answer.

 

Thanks,

 

Fawkes (they/them)
Project & Community Manager - Microsoft Edge

I installed on four of my five personal computers last week, but none of them had any favorites at all in LegacyEdge, so there was nothing to duplicate.  Each of the installs synced to NewEdge without duplication, but that doesn't tell me what will happen if LegacyEdge has favorites.  I've not seen anything the trade press or the technology boards about the issue though, so my guess is that duplication isn't an issue with the Stable installation.  

@tomscharbach Re: "seemed to endlessly duplicate Favorites as EdgeEnterpriseStable was installed on a number of computers tied to the same MSA (that is, EdgeLegacy Favorites installed in EdgeChromium on the first computer, then again on the second computer (creating duplicate Favorites) and again on the third computer (creating triplicate Favorites)."

 

What folders are the duplicates in? (There may be up to one copy of each favorite in the ~3 folders, but there shouldn't be duplicates in the same folder.) And have you seen this behavior in Canary or Dev?

And as a heads-up, you can multi-select favorites in "about:favorites" to delete multiples at once.

 

Fawkes (they/them)
Project & Community Manager - Microsoft Edge

@tomscharbach And while I haven't tried this, nor can I officially recommend it, @HotCakeX posted a duplication-clearing extension here: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/discussions/syncing-of-bookmarks-favorites-when-first-install....

 

Fawkes (they/them)
Project & Community Manager - Microsoft Edge

"What folders are the duplicates in? (There may be up to one copy of each favorite in the ~3 folders, but there shouldn't be duplicates in the same folder.)"

 

As reported in the thread "Deployment - Fonts, Favorites, Sync", duplicates occurred on the Favorites Bar and duplicates were created in "Other Favorites", although the duplication in "Other Favorites" occurred as a result of creation of a subfolder labeled "Bookmarks Menu".

 

BEGIN EXCERPTS

 

Here are relevant excerpts from the report in the thread "Deployment - Fonts, Favorites, Sync":

 

As discussed in other threads, I prepared to test EdgeChromium installation by creating two identical lists of Favorites/Bookmarks, one in EdgeClassic and one in EdgeChromium. To "fingerprint" the source, I marked all Favorites/Bookmarks in EdgeClassic with an "E" or an "e" and marked all Favorites/Bookmarks in EdgeChromium with a "C" or a "c".''

 

That created these sets of Favorites/Bookmarks:

 

(1) EDGE CHROMIUM BEFORE INSTALLING MicrosoftEdgeEnterpriseX64.msi:

On the Favorites Bar:
ForumC,MmailC,YmailC,GmailC,FBc,BingC,GmpsC,AmzC,RtrC,NflxC,ABc,JMGc,TWCc,tURLc,MSNc,511C
In "Other Favorites":
NEWSc-Advocate,NEWSc-Alternet, NEWSc-Capitol Times, NEWSc-Politics Today-Early & Often, NEWSc-Mother Jones, NEWSc-New York Times, NEWSc-Politico, NEWSc-Real Clear Politics, NEWSc-Washington Post, NEWSc-Wisconsin State Journal, NEWSc-Wonkette, MARKER1**, MARKER2**

 

(2) EDGE CLASSIC BEFORE INSTALLING MicrosoftEdgeEnterpriseX64.msi:

On the Favorites Bar:
ForumE,MmailE,YmailE,GmailE,FBc,BingE,GmpsE,AmzE,RtrE,NflxE,ABe,JMGc,TWCe,tURLe,MSNe,511E
In "Bookmarks Menu":
NEWSe-Advocate,NEWSe-Alternet, NEWSe-Capitol Times, NEWSe-Politics Today Early & Often, NEWSe-Mother Jones, NEWSe-New York Times, NEWSe-Politico, NEWSe-Real Clear Politics, NEWSe-Washington Post, NEWSe-Wisconsin State Journal, NEWSe-Wonkette, MARKER1**, MARKER2**

 

I then ran the MicrosoftEdgeEnterpriseX64.msi installation routine, resulting in this set of Favorites/Bookmarks:

 

(3) EDGE CHROMIUM AFTER INSTALLING MicrosoftEdgeEnterpriseX64.msi:

On the Favorites Bar:
ForumC,MmailC,YmailC,GmailC,FBc,BingC,GmpsC,AmzC,RtrC,NflxC,ABc,JMGc,TWCc,tURLc,MSNc,511C,ForumE,MmailE,YmailE,GmailE,FBc,BingE,GmpsE,AmzE,RtrE,NflxE,ABe,JMGc,TWCe,tURLe,MSNe,511E
In "Other Favorites":
NEWSc-Advocate,NEWSc-Alternet, NEWSc-Capitol Times, NEWSc-Politics Today-Early & Often, NEWSc-Mother Jones, NEWSc-New York Times, NEWSc-Politico, NEWSc-Real Clear Politics, NEWSc-Washington Post, NEWSc-Wisconsin State Journal, NEWSc-Wonkette, MARKER1**, MARKER2**
In an "Other Favorites" subfolder titled "Bookmarks Menu":
NEWSe-Advocate,NEWSe-Alternet, NEWSe-Capitol Times, NEWSe-Politics Today Early & Often, NEWSe-Mother Jones, NEWSe-New York Times, NEWSe-Politico, NEWSe-Real Clear Politics, NEWSe-Washington Post, NEWSe-Wisconsin State Journal, NEWSe-Wonkette, MARKER1**, MARKER2**

 

END EXCERPTS

 

"And have you seen this behavior in Canary or Dev?"

 

No, but I have not been able to test the behavior in either Canary or Dev because neither build (as far as I know) removes LegacyEdge and brings over Favorites/Bookmarks to NewEdge upon installation.  Obviously, whatever duplicates are created upon installation of Stable will sync to Canary and Dev builds.

 

I have also not tested whether or not the duplication behavior occurs upon Stable installation.  Prior to installing Stable on my production computers, I removed each and every Favorite from LegacyEdge so that no Favorites at all would be imported from LegacyEdge.  I intend to follow a similar procedure when I do the railroad's computers -- backup LegacyEdge Favorites to an HTML file, remove each and every Favorite from LegacyEdge, install Stable, then import from the HTML file.  I haven't tested that procedure, but I'm certain that it will work okay, so long as no instance of LegacyEdge has any Favorites to import.

 

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** MARKER1 and MARKER2 were favorites/bookmarks created to test whether the cutover process would treat absolutely identical favorites/bookmarks as duplicates, eliminating one set on cutover. MARKER1 points to an identical link in both the EdgeClassic and EdgeChromium sets, as does MARKER2. The cutover process did not identify either MARKER1 or MARKER2 as duplicates of one another and eliminate one or the other when cutting over.