All Things Migration from Internet Explorer to Edge Chromium

ActiveX control, Silverlight, Java

Objects (BHOs) like Silverlight or Java. However, if you’re running web apps that use ActiveX controls,

BHOs, or legacy document  modes on Internet Explorer 11, you can configure them to

 run in IE mode on the new Microsoft Edge 

Edge browser in IE mode, features and configuration:

Only those sites that you specifically configure (via policy) will use the IE mode: 

Entering the site FQDN names in the Enterprise Mode Site List XML defined in one of these policies: 

      – Microsoft Edge, “Configure the Enterprise Mode Site List” 

      – Internet Explorer, “Use the Enterprise Mode IE website list“ 

The Microsoft Edge site list policy takes precedence over the Internet Explorer site

list policy. 

If you know that your intranet sites are not going to work correctly with Microsoft Edge,

you can configure Microsoft Edge GPO with setting named “set all intranet sites to open using IE11”

to redirect intranet sites traffic to IE11 automatically as shown here:

Computer configurationPoliciesAdministrative templateMicrosoft Edge 

IE mode supports the following Internet Explorer functionality 

 – All document modes and enterprise modes 

 – ActiveX controls (such as Java or Silverlight)

 – Browser Helper Objects 

 – Internet Explorer settings and Group Policies that affect the security zone settings and

   Protected Mode

 – The F12 developer tools for IE, when launch with IEChooser 

 – Microsoft Edge extensions (Extensions that interact with the IE page content directly are not 

    supported.) 

IE mode doesn’t support the following Internet Explorer functionality 

 – Internet Explorer toolbars.

 – Internet Explorer settings and Group Policies that affect the navigation menu

   (for example – search engines, and home pages).

 – IE11 or Microsoft Edge F12 developer tools with the exception of IEChooser.

Using GPO to enable Edge Enterprise mode (IE compatible mode)

Computer configurationPoliciesAdministrative templateMicrosoft Edge 

• Configure Internet Explorer integration 


• Configure the Enterprise Mode Site List policy 

Using GPO to enable IE Enterprise mode

Administrative TemplatesWindows ComponentsInternet ExplorerUse the Enterprise Mode IE website

list 

More info: 

Turn on Enterprise Mode and use a site list

(Internet Explorer 11 for IT Pros) – Internet Explorer | Microsoft Docs 

Add multiple sites to the Enterprise Mode site list using a file and

the Enterprise Mode Site List Manager (schema v.2)

(Internet Explorer 11 for IT Pros) – Internet Explorer | Microsoft Docs 

Edge could detect and automatically redirect traffic from IE to Edge if there is

incompatible function.

Many modern websites have designs that are incompatible with Internet Explorer (IE). When an IE user

visits an incompatible public website, the user may get a message about incompatible browser.

After the message, starting with version 84, IE will automatically redirects users to Microsoft Edge. 

Redirection from Internet Explorer to Microsoft Edge requires an Internet Explorer Browser Helper

Object (BHO) named “IEtoEdge BHO”.

The RedirectSitesFromInternetExplorerPreventBHOInstall policy controls whether or not this

BHO is installed.

IE incompatible banner

If IE detect a modern Web site and it is incompatible with:

   – A website incompatibility banner is displayed under the address bar for each redirection.     – Users may continue to use IE for websites that are not on the IE compatibility list. 

   – To Add or Remove Public site in compatible list : you could email your suggestion to

      ietoedge@microsoft.com 

   – When a site is redirected from Internet Explorer to Microsoft Edge, the Internet Explorer tab that started

     loading the site is closed if it had no prior content. Otherwise, the active tab view goes to a Microsoft

      support page that explains why the site was redirected to Microsoft Edge.

Microsoft Edge supported browser privacy with tracking prevention feature:

The tracking prevention feature in Microsoft Edge protects users from online tracking by restricting

the ability of trackers to access browser-based storage as well as the network. 

   – To configure, typing in the url address box:  “edge://settings/privacy“

   – If any of the visited host names match with a host name on the Disconnect lists of Edge,

     Microsoft Edge proceeds with evaluating enforcement actions to prevent users from being tracked. 

   – You could set 3 level of prevention as shown here: 

To Unblock tracking prevention for Company’s Web Developer:

Microsoft is currently working on the Storage Access API in the Chromium codebase.

The Storage Access API gives site developers a way to request storage access from users directly,

to quickly and intuitively unblock themselves. 

Mitigation of “tracking prevention” for the companies belonged to the same Org or the Org

acquired by your Company:

Microsoft Edge exempts a site from tracking prevention when the site is making third-party requests

to other sites owned by the same parent organization (as defined in the Disconnect entities.json list) 

Using  Microsoft Edge DevTools to debug Office-Add-in:

When the Office add-in is running in Microsoft Edge, you can use the Microsoft Edge DevTools. 

   > Run the add-in. 

   > Run the Microsoft Edge DevTools. 

   > In the tools, open the Local tab. Your add-in will be listed by its name. 

   > Click the add-in name to open it in the tools. 

   > Open the Debugger tab. 

   > Choose the folder icon above the script (left) pane. From the list of available files shown

       in the dropdown list, select the JavaScript file that you want to debug. 

   > To set a breakpoint, select the line. You will see a red dot to the left of the line and

      a corresponding line in the Call stack (bottom right) pane. 

   > Execute functions in the add-in as needed to trigger the breakpoint. 

About ClickOnce and DirectInvoke:

Currently, Edge Chromium doesn’t provide native support for ClickOnce or DirectInvoke. 

ClickOnce and DirectInvoke are features available in IE and Microsoft Edge classic

(version 45 and earlier) that support the use of a file handler to download files from a website.  

ClickOnce requests are handled by the native file handler in Windows. 

DirectInvoke requests are handled by a registered file handler specified by the website hosting

the file. 

ClickOnce and DirectInvoke in Microsoft Edge | Microsoft Docs