Announcing Microsoft Edge WebView2 General Availability

Windows

Windows
Today, we are excited to announce that
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
for Win32 C/C++ is generally available and ready for use in production applications! With today’s announcement, we are officially releasing a forward-compatible
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
along with production-ready
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
. These can be used in any Win32 C/C++ application, and are supported across existing
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
. We know a lot of you are also eagerly awaiting our .NET and WinUI 3 GA, and they are coming soon, too. You’ll find some details below, but you can also subscribe to our new
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
or check our
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
to stay up-to-date on everything about WebView2. Before we get into details, we also want to thank all of the developers that have been with us on the journey through preview, helping us shape the product through early adoption and continual
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
. We look forward to continuing to partner on what comes next. So, with that, let’s talk a bit more about WebView2 and what the GA release means. WebView2 is Microsoft’s new embedded web control, built on top of Microsoft Edge (Chromium). This means that as a Windows app developer you will now have access to the latest web tech in both existing and new apps. WebView2 lets you combine the ease and agility of developing for the web with the power of building a native desktop application. If you’re not familiar with WebView2 yet, our Ignite talk this year provides a great overview to bring you up to speed. WebView2 is also a part of
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
, which means it will be available across Win32 and UWP applications, as well as in a few different UI stacks. Here is a quick recap of the current frameworks, and where things are at:
  • Win32 C/C++ - GA today
  • .NET (WinForms & WPF) – preview available, and GA planned by end of 2020
  • WinUI 3 – supported in
    Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
    for UWP and Win32, and GA planned with WinUI 3 GA
WebView2 also provides two different distribution models –
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
. Evergreen WebView2 is the mode in which the underlying web platform (
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
) is always up-to-date and automatically updated by Microsoft, giving you access to the latest web capabilities and security fixes. The Evergreen WebView2 Runtime is also shared by all apps adopting the Evergreen model, saving disk footprint. For apps that have strict compatibility requirements, the Fixed Version allows your app to bundle a copy of the WebView2 Runtime that doesn’t self-update, and you as the developer are in control and responsible for updating the Runtime.
  • Evergreen – GA today
  • Fixed Version –
    Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
    for both Win32 C/C++ and .NET, and GA planned by end of 2020
For those of you following along with WebView2, you may know that during our preview stage we aimed to release a new SDK every 6 weeks. Going forward, we’ll continue to be agile as both WebView2 SDK and Runtime updates will generally align with
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
. With each Microsoft Edge Stable browser update you can expect:
  • An automatic update for apps using Evergreen WebView2 Runtime
  • New Fixed Version Runtime for apps opting to bundle the runtime themselves
Also, with each major version Microsoft Edge Stable browser update, you can expect an updated WebView2 SDK with new APIs. Developers will have the choice to stay on older forward compatible SDKs, or adopt the new SDK for new WebView2 APIs. We will also continue having the
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
like today to gather developer feedback on experimental APIs. With today's GA release, our developer partners can also start releasing their WebView2 updates. Both the
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
and
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
teams have shared key product updates that build on top of WebView2, and we look forward to seeing their products roll out more broadly. We also have some more exciting partnerships that we look forward to sharing over the next few months. [caption id="attachment_24562" align="aligncenter" width="1024"]
Outlook Web App and Outlook Desktop side-by-side showing the same Room Finder component.
Outlook Desktop (left) using WebView2 to re-use the Room Finder component from the Outlook Web App (right).[/caption] So, how do you get started? It’s easy – take a look at our
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
to learn more, or follow along with our getting started guides for
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
,
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
,
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
, and
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
. We also have a handful of more
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
available and are always looking for
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
. Be sure to also subscribe to our
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
to stay tuned on future WebView2 updates. And with that, happy coding—we can’t wait to see what you build! – Lindsay Kubasik, Principal PM Lead, Microsoft Edge – Limin Zhu, Senior Program Manager, Microsoft Edge

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Top