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Deprecate WebBrowser, HtmlDocument and associated types #7582

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@RussKie RussKie commented Aug 12, 2022

The WebBrowser control is based on IE Trident engine, which is almost universally unusable for general web browsing these days. It is also based on COM/ActiveX, which poses difficulties in trimming/native AOT scenarios.

Also, Internet Explorer 11 has been retired and is officially out of support as of 15 June 2022. Whilst the underlying Trident engine (mshtml.dll) isn't being removed (yet?) from Windows, the general guidance is to use the modern replacement, which is WebView2 web browser control.

Resolves #6964

Microsoft Reviewers: Open in CodeFlow

The WebBrowser control is based on IE Trident engine, which is almost
universally unusable for general web browsing these days. It is also
based on COM/ActiveX, which poses difficulties in trimming/native AOT
scenarios.

Also, Internet Explorer 11 has been retired and is officially out of
support as of 15 June 2022. Whilst the underlying Trident engine (mshtml.dll)
isn't being removed (yet?) from Windows, the general guidance is to use
the modern replacement, which is WebView2 web browser control.

Resolves dotnet#6964
@RussKie RussKie added the 📖 documentation: breaking A change in behavior that could be breaking for applications. Needs to be documented. label Aug 12, 2022
@RussKie RussKie requested a review from a team as a code owner August 12, 2022 08:00
@ghost ghost assigned RussKie Aug 12, 2022
@RussKie RussKie marked this pull request as draft August 15, 2022 04:40
@ghost ghost added the draft draft PR label Aug 15, 2022
@elachlan
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elachlan commented Oct 3, 2022

@RussKie, is this being deprecated in .Net7 and removed in .Net8?

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RussKie commented Oct 4, 2022

Deprecation only. There are no appetites to remove the types in any forseeable future. The deprecation will help making developers aware of other more modern tech, such as WebView2, which in many cases will benefit end users.

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@RussKie did you want to merge this for .NET8?

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RussKie commented Jan 23, 2023

My recollection is that conceptually this change was desirable, but I'd leave this for @dotnet/dotnet-winforms to decide whether they wish to pursue this further. I'd be happy to rebase, if so.
This may need to be taken to the API Review Board too.

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@merriemcgaw / @dreddy-work did you want to continue with this PR?

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Thanks for bubbling this back up @elachlan! I am thinking that we shouldn't go further with this because the engine isn't going anywhere any time soon. When Windows decides not to support mshtml.dll then we will go for removing the types. We've removed this control from the toolbox as we want people to move to WebView2 control as soon as possible. I do think it will be a good idea to note in the docs that the underlying IE is no longer supported though. Heading over to file a docs bug 😄

@ghost ghost locked as resolved and limited conversation to collaborators Feb 27, 2023
@dreddy-work dreddy-work removed the 📖 documentation: breaking A change in behavior that could be breaking for applications. Needs to be documented. label Sep 20, 2023
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Mark WebBrowser and all related (e.g., HTML* types) as obsolete
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