News

Microsoft Is Preparing To Uninstall The Legacy Version Of Its Edge Browser

Published

6 years ago

February 13, 2021

Microsoft

Support for the old version of Microsoft Edge will end on March 9, 2021, which means no more security updates for the unpopular successor to Internet Explorer. To keep Windows users safe, Microsoft will uninstall the unsupported version of Edge on April 13, 2021 and replace it with the Chromium-based one.

The replacement will be part of the Windows 10 cumulative monthly security update (also referred to as the Update Tuesday release). “When you apply this update to your devices, the out of support Edge Legacy desktop application will be removed, and the new Edge will be installed,” explains Microsoft on its website.

Windows users who have already installed the Chromium version won’t notice any difference because the latest Edge installer automatically removes the legacy version at the end of the installation process.

“The new Edge offers built-in security and our best interoperability with the Microsoft security ecosystem, all while being more secure than Chrome for businesses on Windows 10,” the company adds.

Users who would like to run Edge Legacy and the new Edge as a side-by-side experience can skip the update, but Microsoft advises against it, stating that Windows cumulative monthly security updates provide important updates to the Windows 10 operating system.

The Chromium-based version of Edge was released on January 15, 2020. Since then, the combined market share of the legacy and new versions grew to nearly 8 percent, earning Microsoft the second-biggest chunk of the web browser pie, after Google Chrome (nearly 70 percent).

Also Read: Google Launches Its Dunant Subsea Cable Between The US And Europe

One of the biggest advantages of the Chromium-based version of Edge is its support for Google Chrome extensions alongside Edge-specific extensions hosted by Microsoft. After enabling the “Allow extensions from other stores” switch in Settings, users can go to the Chrome Web Store and download any extension they want.

News

Visa’s Return To Syria Starts With A Test And A Bank In Lebanon

Foreign visitors will be the first users to benefit, but whether Syria’s own banks and cardholders follow is still an open question.

Published

2 weeks ago

August 27, 2026

Dana Saadeh

visa's return to syria starts with a test and a bank in lebanon

Visa is returning to Syria. Its first live international card transaction in the country was a test rather than a launch, and the milestone event ran through a Lebanese bank.

The acquirer (the bank on the merchant’s side of a card payment) was Fransabank Lebanon, with Paymera as the other named partner. Nadim Moujaes, who heads a Fransabank Group subsidiary, describes the test as both the culmination of “longstanding efforts to link Syria back to international payment networks” and “the first step in a larger path”.

Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa makes the first electronic payment in Syria using a @Visa card at a store in Damascus, following the lifting of US sanctions on Syria. pic.twitter.com/lpAN7nQ6Fc

— Tech Magazine (@TechMGZN) August 27, 2026

“We are excited to have successfully tested live transactions today as we plan to enable international visitors to use their Visa cards while in Syria,” says Leila Serhan, Visa’s senior vice president and group country manager for the North Africa, Levant and Pakistan region. Although a significant first step, that plan doesn’t come with a hard date for when a visitor’s card will work normally.

Mohammed Safwat Raslan, governor of the Central Bank of Syria, says the test paves the way for international card acceptance in Syria and that maintaining strong compliance, risk management and operational controls will remain essential. Serhan likewise stresses that Visa has worked within applicable legal, regulatory and compliance requirements. For a test transaction, it seems there was a great deal of attention paid to the rules, with the entire operation being carefully managed.

Also Read: Lebanon’s 5G Era Begins With 150 Stations And A $1M Budget

The test is the latest step in a sequence that began in December 2025, when Visa announced a strategic roadmap to support Syria’s integration into the global digital economy. In February 2026 it hosted its first industry gathering of banks, ecosystem partners and policymakers in Damascus and, the same month, signed an agreement with Syria’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology in San Francisco.

Michel Kattouah, Paymera’s CEO, called the test “the return of international card acceptance,” but while that’s positive news, there’s no word yet on when a Syrian bank will issue a Visa card to a Syrian customer.