Microsoft has now started installing WebView2 runtime on some
Windows 10 PCs to improve the web apps experience when using
certain services, such as Office apps, Outlook, and Microsoft
Teams.
The big idea here is to improve the quality of web apps. But
web applications aren’t exactly new on Windows, so what does
“WebView2 runtime” give us that is new?
According to
Microsoft, WebView2 is a web control built on top of
Chromium Edge and it’s the successor to the EdgeHTML-based
WebView. It allows apps to access the latest web tech, which
means a better web experience and performance for you.
Microsoft Edge WebView2 is used as a rendering engine to
display web-related contents in your Windows apps and next-gen
Microsoft 365 services will also rely on it. For example,
WebView2 is required for Meeting Insights features in Outlook
and
it will also power Microsoft Teams “Alpha”, a new desktop
client reportedly arriving later this year.
According to Microsoft’s
official roadmap, the tool is installed on PCs using
Microsoft 365 services only.
However, in our tests, we observed that Microsoft installed
“Microsoft Edge WebView2 Runtime” on our machines where we have
Office 2016 Student Edition installed, which is not a part of
Microsoft 365.
Why do you need WebView2 runtime on Windows 10?
By installing WebView2 runtime on Windows 10, Microsoft will be
able to provide users with Office features that look and feel
the same across all form factors. According to Microsoft, Edge
WebView2 runtime will also ensure a “consistent experience” for
web-based contents/features in Windows 10 apps.
It’s worth noting that WebView2 is necessary for some Microsoft
365 apps and features, but it doesn’t require Microsoft Edge to
be installed and it won’t change your apps, browser or search
engine settings.
If it’s not active on your PC, you won’t be able to take
advantage of all Microsoft products.
This is why Microsoft is forcefully installing the runtime and
there’s no way to pause the rollout unless you’ve access to the
advanced Group Policy editor. Remember that only PCs that are
using Microsoft Office products will be impacted, at least for
now.
