A few days ago, Microsoft released Edge 121 in the Beta channel for final testing before pushing it to the stable channel at the end of next month. In addition to what is mentioned in the release notes, Edge121 finally catches up with Chrome, Safari, Firefox and other competitors in terms of AVIF image support. Patrick Brosset of the Edge development team announced the change on Mastadon:
It took Microsoft a long time to provide AVIF support in Microsoft Edge - the first traces of this image format were discovered in February 2023. For reference, Chrome became compatible with AVIF in 2020 when Google released Chrome browser version 85. The Firefox browser gained AVIF support in October 2021, and Safari joined the ranks in iOS 16, iPadOS 16, and macOS Ventura in September 2023.
You can download the latest beta version from the official website and try to use AVIF support in Microsoft Edge. Go to this website to check if your browser supports AVIF:
https://libre-software.net/image/avif-test/
If not supported, the site will fall back to JPEG format.
The AVIF image format was developed by the Alliance for Open Media. The original specification was officially released on February 19, 2019. AVIF uses the AV1 codec and HEIF container to provide better compression efficiency and image quality. In other words, AVIF pictures take up less disk space, display more detail and have fewer artifacts. Windows 10 and 11 already support AVIF, which was added in Windows 10 version 1903 released in the first half of 2019.
Microsoft plans to release Edge 121 to the stable channel the week of January 25, 2023. Other changes in version 121 include a redesigned update experience, which has been moved from the browser's settings to the "Browser Essentials" section of the sidebar. Microsoft says this will improve discoverability.