5 ms·

IE as a browser does suck, no argument there. However, I (and I'm sure many other Windows devs too) find the .NET WebBrowser control very useful - it's a easy d

IE as a browser does suck, no argument there. However, I (and I'm sure many other Windows devs too) find the .NET WebBrowser control very useful - it's a easy drop-in control that's part of the .NET framework. It shares a lot with with IE codebase, so if IE gets killed off, would that include the control? It certainly would no longer be updated. I've looked in depth at the embedded Chromium project, but there's simply TOO much baggage with that making it total overkill when all you want to do is render some HTML in a line-of-business application.

PretzelFisch 8y ago
There is a .net control now that lets you embed edge. The old IE control was annoying with it's default to ie7 impersonation mode that could only be controlled via registry settings
- Jaruzel 8y ago
  Is there?! Is it part of the default framework, or do you have NuGet it? Yes... FEATURE_EMULATION reg key - I know it well ;)
  - PretzelFisch 8y ago
    WebView is a NuGet package https://blogs.windows.com/msedgedev/2018/05/09/modern-webview-winforms-wpf-apps/ https://blogs.windows.com/msedgedev/2018/05/09/modern-webvie...
Avery3R 8y ago
They're not going to kill off IE, it's the only browser on server/ltsb SKUs. They've said that edge is a no go for those because of how frequently edge gets updates compared to the os.
- babypuncher 8y ago
  Why they can't figure out how to update the browser independently of the OS is beyond comprehension. IE and Edge are the only non-evergreen browsers which is probably they are the most problematic to target. I develop primarily in Firefox, but I never have bugs pop up in Chromium or WebKit browsers, only IE and Edge.
  - tenebrisalietum 8y ago
    I thought because `iexplore.exe` is a thin wrapper around `mshtml.dll`. I'm not sure how thin, but most of the functionality is in that and maybe other DLLs.
    - anticensor 8y ago
      Not so thin. You should have thought of Winhlp.
- ndnxhs 8y ago
  Why does a server need a web browser
  - switch007 8y ago
    Package management ;-)
  - tenebrisalietum 8y ago
    Because the server is a license server in a company that has a hardware HASP key that is managed by service that exposes its interface only through localhost HTTP.
    - ndnxhs 8y ago
      Would take no time at all to set up nginx to allow you to connect from your desktop. Likely much more secure than having an ancient browser on a server.
criddell 8y ago
We use the IWebBrowser control in a C++ application. Do you know if that will be killed off as well? I kind of doubt it because of Microsoft's history of supporting stuff forever, but the new Microsoft isn't as generous. They've already announced that the ability to generate class files in Visual Studio from tlb or dll files is going away.
tracker1 8y ago
Or you can use a chrome based alternative[1] that took care of the rough edges for you. [1] https://cefsharp.github.io/ https://cefsharp.github.io/

PretzelFisch 8y ago

There is a .net control now that lets you embed edge. The old IE control was annoying with it's default to ie7 impersonation mode that could only be controlled via registry settings

Jaruzel 8y ago
Is there?! Is it part of the default framework, or do you have NuGet it? Yes... FEATURE_EMULATION reg key - I know it well ;)
- PretzelFisch 8y ago
  WebView is a NuGet package https://blogs.windows.com/msedgedev/2018/05/09/modern-webview-winforms-wpf-apps/ https://blogs.windows.com/msedgedev/2018/05/09/modern-webvie...

Avery3R 8y ago

They're not going to kill off IE, it's the only browser on server/ltsb SKUs. They've said that edge is a no go for those because of how frequently edge gets updates compared to the os.

babypuncher 8y ago
Why they can't figure out how to update the browser independently of the OS is beyond comprehension. IE and Edge are the only non-evergreen browsers which is probably they are the most problematic to target. I develop primarily in Firefox, but I never have bugs pop up in Chromium or WebKit browsers, only IE and Edge.
- tenebrisalietum 8y ago
  I thought because `iexplore.exe` is a thin wrapper around `mshtml.dll`. I'm not sure how thin, but most of the functionality is in that and maybe other DLLs.
  - anticensor 8y ago
    Not so thin. You should have thought of Winhlp.
ndnxhs 8y ago
Why does a server need a web browser
- switch007 8y ago
  Package management ;-)
- tenebrisalietum 8y ago
  Because the server is a license server in a company that has a hardware HASP key that is managed by service that exposes its interface only through localhost HTTP.
  - ndnxhs 8y ago
    Would take no time at all to set up nginx to allow you to connect from your desktop. Likely much more secure than having an ancient browser on a server.

criddell 8y ago

We use the IWebBrowser control in a C++ application. Do you know if that will be killed off as well? I kind of doubt it because of Microsoft's history of supporting stuff forever, but the new Microsoft isn't as generous. They've already announced that the ability to generate class files in Visual Studio from tlb or dll files is going away.

tracker1 8y ago

Or you can use a chrome based alternative[1] that took care of the rough edges for you. [1] https://cefsharp.github.io/ https://cefsharp.github.io/