Microsoft Edge has now blessed the stable channel for Microsoft Edge and upgraded it to build 96.0.1054.53. Edge 96 has been around for a while now, thus this is a minor update that changes the build number after the fourth decimal place.
Since this is a pure security update, it does not bring any new features to the browser. It does, however, address a few crucial vulnerabilities. 16 vulnerabilities have been addressed in total, for which Microsoft has not defined a severity level as of yet. You can learn more about these security patches through Microsoft Security Update Guide.
Since Edge is now Chromium-based and these vulnerabilities have been defined by Chrome, Microsoft has not provided many details in the release notes or this update.
Let us now dig in detail what significant changes this update brings.
Release Summary
- Complete release build: 96.0.1054.53
- Release date: Friday, December 10, 2021
- Compatibility: Windows 11, 10, 8.1, 7 (32-bit and 64-bit), Mac, Linux, iOS, and Android.
- Previous build: Edge 96.0.1054.43
Super Duper Secure Mode (SDSM) in Microsoft Edge
Microsoft is slowly beginning to add a Super Duper Secure Mode in Microsoft Edge. This is a project by Microsoft to address certain vulnerabilities in modern browsers to keep your online experience as secure as possible.
Microsoft is fighting Typosquatting with SDSM – where a user enters a misspelled name for a website and is taken to a different domain than where they wanted to. This is usually done intentionally by criminals that make a similar website to the one that you originally wanted to go to and then get your personal information.
That said, they have not added this feature in the current Edge update, but plan to slowly begin rolling it out to the stable channel. At the time of writing this post, Microsoft has already released “Typosquatting Checker” to the Canary channel.
Right now, the Typosquatting Checker will warn the users that they may be heading to the wrong website. However, in the future, Microsoft plans to automatically redirect users to the correct domain.
Download Microsoft Edge 96
If you already have Microsoft Edge on your PC, you can simply upgrade it to the latest build. If you do not, use the links given below to install it now.
Microsoft Edge comes preinstalled in Windows 11 and 10. Learn how to uninstall Microsoft Edge.
Upgrade to Edge 96
To upgrade to the latest available Edge version, click on the ellipses in the top-right corner of the browser, expand Help and Feedback, and then click About Microsoft Edge.
Edge will now begin to scan for an update, and then download and install it if one is available. Once the download is completed, you will need to Restart the browser.
Once it relaunches, you can return to the About page and check that it has been updated to version 96.0.1054.53.
Download Edge 96 Installers
If you want to use Edge 96 on any operating system other than Windows 11 and 10, like Windows 7, Windows 8.1, Linux, macOS, iOS, and Android, you will need to download its offline installers.
You can download the latest Microsoft Edge installers (including stable, beta, and dev releases). You can also download the browser in your preferred language using the tips given on the above-mentioned page.
Use Portable Edge Chromium Updater
If you are using Edge’s portable version, it will not update on its own. For that, a small tool known as Portable Edge Updater is available on GitHub that allows you to install or update the existing Microsoft Edge Chromium to the latest build available. Not only that, you can use this tool to download the x64 and x86 versions from all channels, which includes the stable channel as well as the 3 channels from Edge Insider.
Download the tool by opening the Portable Edge GitHub page and then clicking on the link provided Portable.Edge.Chromium.Updater….7z.
The tool will then download. Extract it and then run the .exe file. Inside the tool, click on the channel and bit architecture that you want to download (the versions are also mentioned). In this case, we shall be downloading Edge version 96 from the stable channel.
The browser will then begin to update (or download). Once it is done, you can check that Microsoft Edge Chromium portable 96 is now available on your device.
Microsoft Edge Update History
| Edge Version | Release Date | Features & improvements |
|---|---|---|
| Edge 119 | 2-Nov-23 | Addresses 16 vulnerabilities, improves split-screen restore, ability to manage sidebar app auto-launch, “Always show sidebar” option placed under Copilot settings |
| Edge 118 | 13-Oct-23 | Addresses 15 vulnerabilities, and introduces AI-powered Find on Page. |
| Edge 117 | 15-Sep-23 | Addresses 14 vulnerabilities, includes More Tools deprecations and unload event deprecation, includes support for Microsoft Edge for Business for BYOPC via Intune. |
| Edge 116 | 21-Aug-23 | Addresses 23 vulnerabilities, introduces split screen, ability to drop files across devices, and ability to attach Edge sidebar to desktop. |
| Edge 115 | 21-Jul-23 | Microsoft Edge management service, rounded tabs, mouse gestures, split screen view. |
| Edge 113 | 5-May-23 | Basic Enhanced Security Mode was removed, shifted to EdgeUpdater on macOS, and introduced new policies, addresses 2 security vulnerabilities. |
| Edge 112 | 6-Apr-23 | Introduced Browser Essentials in place of the Performance Hub, improvements to enhanced security mode and some policies. |
| Edge 111 | 13-Mar-23 | Bing copilot in the toolbar, auto-hiding sidebar, hover over the sidebar to expand, and policy to clear IE mode history on browser exit. |
| Edge 110 | 9-Feb-23 | Introduces Immersive Reader policies, Azure Active Directory synchronization, Drop feature to share files, and several security updates. |
| Edge 109 | 13-Jan-23 | 14 security updates, 8 new policies, and 2 deprecated policies. |
| Edge 108 | 5-Dec-22 | Important security fixes, a new policy to disable Web Select amongst others. |
| Edge 107 | 27-Oct-22 | Improved sidebar, new policies, and security fixes. |
| Edge 106 | 3-Oct-22 | Improved web defense and increased the maximum number of search results to 4 |
| Edge 105 | 2-Sep-22 | Improvements to IE mode and enhanced security |
| Edge 104 | 5-Aug-22 | Support to import data and enhanced security on the web |
| Edge 103 | 23-Jun-22 | Improvements for online and web gaming |
| Edge 102 | 31-May-22 | With reverse image search and security improvements |
| Edge 100 | 1-Apr-22 | Sends 3-digit user agent string, PDF updates, and hardware-enforces stack protection |
| Edge 99 | 3-Mar-22 | Custom primary password and PDF navigation |
| Edge 98 | 4-Feb-22 | Edge Bar, reduced resource consumption |
| Edge 97 | 6-Jan-22 | Auto-citation, endpoint data loss prevention (DLP) |
| Edge 96 | 10-Dec-21 | Super duper secure mode, typosquatting |
| Edge 90 | 15-Apr-21 | SSO, PDF printing |
| Edge 89 | 4-Mar-21 | Vertical Tabs, Sleeping Tabs, Startup Boost |
| Edge 88 | 21-Jan-21 | Password generator, transparent privacy controls |
Final Thoughts
Google Chrome 96 was released last week with a few critical security patches. Now Microsoft has also released a new update for their browser. This clearly indicates that the vulnerabilities addressed in both these updates are significant, and which is why we suggest that you update your browser immediately.
