back to article Microsoft gets Edge on blocking ad injectors

Microsoft has nixed the ability for its Edge browser to run unsigned dynamic link libraries (DLLs) in a move that will make life hard for dodgy extensions and ad injector merchants. Edge senior program manager Crispin Cowan says the update was dropped last week in the latest Windows 10 update and follows Redmond's plan to …

  1. Shane 4

    Edge

    Glad you pointed the last part out, It is the only reason I don't use Edge.

    I need to be able to open all my bookmarks in tabs with one click, So I have gone back to IE for now.

    1. BenR

      Re: Edge

      "I want to be able to..."

      FTFY

      Be a pretty odd combination of circumstances where your continued employment or survival depended on whether or not you could open all your bookmarks in tabs with a single click... I can't think of any examples where that might be the case, but I'm willing to not rule it out.

      I don't deny the convenience of being able to do so, but the conflation of 'want/preference' and 'need' is beginning to be something of a pet hate.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Edge

        Say you work as a journalist for a website and need to be able to catchup with the news that's being reported on many other sites without having to do the hard work of journalism yourself...

        1. John 104

          Re: Edge

          I salute you, sir!

    2. cambsukguy

      Re: Edge

      I find that Edge remembers my tabs even after exiting and restarting, as long as I don't explicitly delete them.

      So, with separate windows (and/or desktops) it seems ok to manually open the tabs required and leave them open.

      ISTR they re-open after booting too (its been a month on this machine, I forgot but I am reasonably sure).

      What I do know is that the tabs are accurate, it remembers the state very well.

      Edge does have issues with the more dubious sites trying all methods to show ads and popups, it can even crash Edge where nothing else seems to. I just hope MS are getting this famous telemetry and fixing it.

      And, as a bonus Edge removes the need for Adobe Reader since it displays PDFs natively and much faster, that is worth it on its own.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Edge

      I suppose it's useful to make you look busy but, since I actually read the tabs I open, clicking them individually doesn't seem like a big deal and, given all the good Edge brings to the table, you'd have to have a real, specific, highly specialized use case to make this a deal breaker.

  2. Pascal Monett Silver badge
    Thumb Down

    "Web browsers are an attractive target, because in-browser [ads can bring] revenue,"

    That's like saying cars are useful because you can put up billboards and the drivers will see them.

    No. Web browsers are an attractive target because that's the one platform everyone is using for a majority of their Internet interactions. The fact that you can spaff ads on them is a side effect, not a purpose.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Linux

    Another MSFT omnishambles

    I don't use Edge, but I know I'd hate it.

    1. DJV Silver badge
      FAIL

      Re: Another MSFT omnishambles

      Congratulations on totally missing the point of the article.

      1. azaks

        Re: Another MSFT omnishambles

        there was an article on a microsoft product - he is duty bound to shit on it.

        the fact that he doesn't use or understand it are not relevant...

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Another MSFT omnishambles

      And I don't use Linux. But I don't assume I'd hate it. The update makes edge better than it was and that should be applauded, not condemned based on an anti-Microsoft prejudice. If you want to compare Edge to whatever Linux browser you use, fine, otherwise, go troll the Gizmodo fora.

    3. Geoffrey W

      Re: Another MSFT omnishambles

      Are all you commentards absolutely sure the OP isn't being just a wee bit sarcastic? He does have past form.

    4. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Another MSFT omnishambles

      Another insightful piece of evidence-based commenting, so thank you for your valuable contribution.

  4. jaywin

    Inexplicable

    > Edge also remains the only browser which inexplicably lacks the bog-standard feature to open all folder bookmarks in tabs

    Oh, have they got round to adding tabbed browsing to Lynx at last?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Inexplicable

      Oh, have they got round to adding tabbed browsing to Lynx at last?

      So that's the only thing IE - er, I mean Edge - has over Lynx? Sorry, but I still prefer Lynx.

    2. Thecowking

      Re: Inexplicable

      Elinks has tabs, if you want to stay in the command line.

      This message sent from elinks.

    3. cambsukguy

      Re: Inexplicable

      "Hey Cortana - is Edge the fastest browser?"

      "There are other browsers!?"

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Really....

    "The update makes the browser the only one with that type of security protection."

    ...I call bullshit on that... I'm pretty certain my linux Firefox is also protects me by not loading dll's and Browser Helper Objects, whatever these are, and as others have state I'd bet lynx offers similar protection, though even for me that is just a bit too olde worlde.

    1. jaywin

      Re: Really....

      Firefox will be loading DLLs (or equivalent), virtually every browser does as a matter of course. It's incredibly difficult to write any non-trivial piece of software for a full OS that doesn't dynamically link against any other components.

      What's changed is that Edge is now verifying that every DLL it does load is signed by Microsoft or the Windows Hardware certificate, so the only external code it will ever load, even if another process is injected / hacked or whatever is guaranteed to come from MS. This certificate checking is being done with kernel protection so that it's not possible for a user process to bypass the checks.

      Same as splitting different tabs into separate processes, I expect this development to be taken up by the other browser developers as a matter of course.

      1. jaywin

        Re: Really....

        In fact, if you did manage to write a web browser that doesn't load any DLLs (or equivalent), you still wouldn't have this protection - because you don't need it.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Really....

        Of course most modern s/w is loaded from multiple executable/library files but I'm not sure that was the point, show me a site that manages to download and successfully load a linux shared library without my knowledge/consent and I'll be concerned.

        1. jaywin

          Re: Really....

          Go read the original blog post. It's exactly what the story is about.

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Proxy

    One thing the latest version of Edge does seem to have finally fixed is the ability to work correctly behind a proxy.

    Which is a big step towards making Edge a viable consideration as a default corporate browser as corporates begin to roll out W10.

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