When you visit a HTTPS site, the server must present a certificate, signed by a trusted third-party (a Certificate Authority, aka CA), vouching for the identity of the bearer. The certificate contains an expiration date, and is considered valid until that date arrives. But what if the CA later realizes that it issued the certificateContinue reading “Certificate Revocation in Microsoft Edge”
Category Archives: web
New Recipes for 3rd Party Cookies
Last Updated: 11 April 2025 For privacy reasons, the web platform is moving away from supporting 3rd-party cookies, first with lockdowns, and eventually with removal of support starting at 1% in Q1 2024 (was late 2023) and slated for completion in the third quarter of 2024. UPDATE: In Summer 2024, Chrome announced a new plan:Continue reading “New Recipes for 3rd Party Cookies”
Edge URL Schemes
The microsoft-edge: Application Protocol Microsoft Edge implements an Application Protocol with the scheme microsoft-edge: that is designed to launch Microsoft Edge and pass along a web-schemed URL and/or additional arguments. A basic invocation might be as simple as: microsoft-edge:http://example.com/ However, as is often the case with things I choose to write about, there’s a bitContinue reading “Edge URL Schemes”
Captive Portals
When you join a public WiFi network, sometimes you’ll notice that you have to accept “Terms of Use” or provide a password or payment to use the network. Your browser opens or navigates to a page that shows the network’s legal terms or web log on form, you fill it out, and you’re on yourContinue reading “Captive Portals”
“Batteries-Included” vs “Bloated”
Fundamentals are invisible. Features are controversial. One of the few common complaints against Microsoft Edge is that “It’s bloated– there’s too much stuff in it!” A big philosophical question for designers of popular software concerns whether the product should include features that might not be useful for everyone or even a majority of users. ThereContinue reading ““Batteries-Included” vs “Bloated””
Microsoft Edge Tips and Tricks
Last Updated: June 3, 2022. The intent of this post is to capture a list of non-obvious features of the browser that might be useful to you. Q: How do I find the tab playing audio? It’s cool that Microsoft Edge shows the volume icon in the tab playing music and I can click toContinue reading “Microsoft Edge Tips and Tricks”
Losing your cookies
“My browser lost its cookies” has long been one of the most longstanding Support complaints in the history of browsers. Unfortunately, the reason that it has been such a longstanding issue is that it’s not the result of a single problem, and if the problem is intermittent (as it often is), troubleshooting the root causeContinue reading “Losing your cookies”
Thoughts on Impact
In this post, I talk a lot about Microsoft, but it’s not only applicable to Microsoft. Last update: 5 November 2024 It’s once again “Connect Season” at Microsoft, a biannual-ish period when Microsoft employees are tasked with filling out a document about their core priorities, key deliverables, and accomplishments over the past year, concluding withContinue reading “Thoughts on Impact”
Unexpectedly HTTPS?
Last Update: March 28, 2025While I’m a firm believer that every site should be using HTTPS, sadly, not every site is yet doing so. Looking at Chrome data, today around 92% of navigations are HTTPS: …and the pages loaded account for around 95% of browsing time: Browsers are working hard to get these numbers up,Continue reading “Unexpectedly HTTPS?”
Chromium Internals: PAK Files
Web browsers are made up of much more than the native code (mostly compiled C++) that makes up their .exe and .dll files. A significant portion of the browser’s functionality (and bulk) is what we’d call “resources”, which include things like: Images (at two resolutions, regular and “high-DPI”) Localized UI Strings HTML, JavaScript, and CSSContinue reading “Chromium Internals: PAK Files”
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