7 + 1 points you should know for Microsoft Edge support with UFT

With the release of Windows 10 in late July 2015, Microsoft introduced Edge browser.  Edge is a successor to IE 11 and it is now installed by default on all Windows 10 operating systems. Owing to the declining popularity of Internet Explorer over latest browsers like Firefox and Chrome, Microsoft has been investing huge resources in the browser department. According to their latest blog report, Edge is much more power efficient than any other popular browser available in the market today.

Given that the market share of Windows 10 is increasing rapidly, the usage of Edge will increase over the period of time. It becomes imperative for tools like UFT to start full support for Edge.

Microsoft Edge support with UFT on Windows 10

Here is what you should know :

1. Officially, UFT 12.51 and above support Edge in Tech preview mode.
2. As of UFT 12.53, recording on Edge is not supported. Though, you can run existing tests developed on other browsers.
3. For all major browsers in the past, tests on QTP/UFT were supported with the help of browser extensions or add-ons. Unfortunately, Edge doesn’t provide browser add-on functionality yet.  However, Microsoft came up with WebDriver support for automated testing, using which the cool folks in HP UFT team came up with an Edge agent for functional testing to help us test web apps on Edge.
4. You should remember that, you cannot run tests on default Edge browser installed on Windows 10 machine. As of now, you would need to use Edge agent.
5. When you install UFT 12.51 or above on Windows 10, WebDriver module by Microsoft and an “Edge Agent for functional testing” are automatically installed. To test web applications on Edge browser, you should use this Edge Agent and not the default Edge browser shipped and installed on Windows 10 machines.
6. While on Windows 10, if you load Web addin in Add-in manager, you will notice a new option “Microsoft Edge” under Record and Run settings.
7. Make sure you are on Windows 10 build 10.576 or higher. For prior builds of Windows 10, Microsoft provides low performance and poor support over various WebDriver commands. To locate your Windows 10 build, press Windows ⊞ + I key combination > System > About.

How to record and run tests on Windows 10?

To record tests on Windows 10, either you can use browsers like Chrome/Firefox OR you need to have IE 11 and lower versions of internet explorer on your machine. Microsoft has made it difficult to locate the earlier standalone versions of Internet Explorer on its website.

How to install IE 11 on Windows 10?

You would be glad to know that IE 11 is already installed on all Windows 10 machines. Pull it up by pressing Windows ⊞ + S key combination and typing IE 11 in the search box. The 64 bit executable is located at C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe while 32 bit executable is located at C:\Program Files (x86)\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe. To invoke a browser programmatically from Editor view in UFT, check Ways to launch your application. Don’t forget to check these tips if UFT is unable to recognize your application on IE.