Microsoft Pauses Edge Stable Channel Releases

This week, Microsoft revealed that it is pausing updates to the Stable channel for the new Edge, delaying the release of version 81.

“We are making this change to be consistent with the Chromium project, which recently announced a similar pause due to adjusted schedules, and out of a desire to minimize additional impact to web developers and organizations that are similarly impacted,” Microsoft’s Kyle Pflug writes in a brief announcement post. “We will continue to deliver security and stability updates to Microsoft Edge 80.”

Oddly, Edge preview channels like Canary, Dev, and Beta will continue to update on their usual schedule, Microsoft says. But this, too, is in keeping with the Chromium schedule and could change.

Google had announced two days earlier that it would pause Chrome and Chrome OS releases because of “adjusted work schedules,” a reference to California’s lockdown because of the COVID-19 pandemic. A day later, it said that it was not promoting Chrome 81 from to the Stable channel, but that it would begin shipping Dev channel updates again soon, while it continues shipping Canary updates on the normal daily schedule.