Microsoft is ending Edge support on computers without SSE3

Microsoft has updated the official Edge support document on the Microsoft Learn website to warn users about compatibility changes that will soon be coming to the browser. Accordingly, starting from version 126, Microsoft Edge will require processors with SSE3 instruction set or higher. Thus, PC systems using processors that do not support SSE3 will not be eligible to run Microsoft's web browser.

Intel introduced SSE3 in 2004 and AMD quickly followed suit. The first Intel processors with SSE3 included chips with Prescott cores (Pentium 4, Pentium D, Celeron D, etc.). On the AMD side, it's Opteron, Sempron, Athlon 64 and other platforms based on K8. SSE3 is supplemented with 13 new SIMD instructions to develop complex algorithms, graphics, video encoding, and sequence synchronization. SSE3 also includes all previously released MMX, SSE, and SSE2 instruction sets.

Similar to the story with the POPCNT script on Windows 11 version 24H2, SSE3 support in Microsoft Edge will only affect a small portion of users running the browser on outdated hardware setups.

Microsoft Edge 126 is expected to be available on the Stable Channel on June 13, 2024. As of now, Microsoft Edge has the following software requirements:

1. Windows : Windows 10 and Windows 11
2. macOS : Catalina 10.15 or later
3. iOS : iOS and iPadOS 14 or later
4. Android : Android 4.4 KitKat and newer
5. Linux : Yes
6. Chromebook : Edge does not support Chromebooks

Microsoft last updated this document in January 2023, when the company notified users of the end of support for Microsoft Edge on Windows 7, 8, 8.1, Server 2008 R2, Server 2012, and Server 2012 R2. Edge 109 is the final version that works on these platforms.

Another notable change involves processors in Microsoft products including native Windows on ARM PCs. Although the Snapdragon 835 was never officially supported in Windows 11, users could still unofficially bypass the hardware requirements and run the latest operating system. Starting with Windows 11 version 24H2, the operating system requires ARM v8.1 or higher, which makes the Snapdragon 835 physically unable to run the upcoming update. There are also rumors about AMD not supporting Windows 10 in its next-gen Ryzen processors.