Evergreen Webview2 -

Web vulnerabilities emerge constantly. With Evergreen, Microsoft assumes the responsibility of patching underlying Chromium security flaws. Your application remains protected against zero-day exploits without requiring you to issue a software patch. 3. Native OS Integration

Since the runtime updates automatically, your app can leverage the latest JavaScript features, CSS grid improvements, or WebAssembly optimizations without a code change.

Or, for machine-wide installations:

string userDataFolder = Path.Combine(Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.LocalApplicationData), "YourAppName"); Use code with caution. 3. Implement Feature Detection over Version Checking

Only necessary for highly regulated environments (like banking or healthcare) where every single update must be manually validated by a QA team before deployment. In this mode, you bundle a specific version of the runtime, and it never updates. Implementation and Deployment evergreen webview2

Always wrap your WebView2 initialization logic in try-catch blocks and verify the runtime version before loading complex web apps.

Chromium is a massive attack surface. Vulnerabilities are discovered frequently. In an Evergreen model, Microsoft patches the runtime in the background. Your app automatically inherits these security fixes without you needing to recompile or redistribute a new installer. Web vulnerabilities emerge constantly

For developers building traditional Windows Installer (MSI) packages, Microsoft provides guidance on using the Visual Studio Installer Projects extension to chain-install the Evergreen WebView2 Runtime during setup. You can either reference the bootstrapper via a download link, package the bootstrapper with your app, or include the complete standalone installer.

Web vulnerabilities emerge constantly. With the Evergreen model, security patches reach your users immediately through Microsoft Edge release channels. You do not need to compile, test, and ship an emergency application patch just because of a newly discovered Chromium exploit. 2. Drastically Smaller Installers on legacy OS

The most significant constraint is that your WebView2 app cannot specify that a particular version of the runtime is required. If your application depends on a specific API behavior or has compatibility constraints that require version pinning, the Fixed Version model may be more appropriate.

Evergreen runtime supports Windows 7 ESU (Extended Security Updates) as well. However, on legacy OS, the runtime won’t auto-update if the OS itself is out of support. Plan accordingly.