Replacing .NET WebBrowser control with a better browser, like Chrome? [closed]

Answer 1

I know this isn't a 'replacement' WebBrowser control, but I was having some awful rendering issues whilst showing a page that was using BootStrap 3+ for layout etc, and then I found a post that suggested I use the following. Apparently, it's specific to IE and tells it to use the latest variation found on the client machine for rendering (so it won't use IE7, which I believe is the default).

So just put:

<meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=Edge" />

somewhere in the head part of your document.

Obviously, if it's not your document, this won't help - though I personally consider it to be a security hole if you're reading pages not created by yourself through the WebBrowser control - why not just use a web browser!

Answer 2

You can use registry to set IE version for webbrowser control. Go to: HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\FeatureControl\FEATURE_BROWSER_EMULATION and add "yourApplicationName.exe" with value of browser_emulation To see value of browser_emulation, refer link: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee330730%28VS.85%29.aspx#browser_emulation

Answer 3

UPDATE 2020 JULY

Preview version of chromium based WebView 2 is released by the Microsoft. Now you can embed new Chromium Edge browser into a .NET application.

UPDATE 2018 MAY

If you're targeting application to run on Windows 10, then now you can embed Edge browser into your .NET application by using Windows Community Toolkit.

WPF Example:

1. Install Windows Community Toolkit Nuget Package

   Install-Package Microsoft.Toolkit.Win32.UI.Controls
   

2. XAML Code

   <Window
       x:Class="WebViewTest.MainWindow"
       xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
       xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
       xmlns:WPF="clr-namespace:Microsoft.Toolkit.Win32.UI.Controls.WPF;assembly=Microsoft.Toolkit.Win32.UI.Controls"
       xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008"
       xmlns:local="clr-namespace:WebViewTest"
       xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006"
       Title="MainWindow"
       Width="800"
       Height="450"
       mc:Ignorable="d">
       <Grid>
           <WPF:WebView x:Name="wvc" />
       </Grid>
   </Window>
   

3. CS Code:

   public partial class MainWindow : Window
   {
     public MainWindow()
     {
       InitializeComponent();
   
       // You can also use the Source property here or in the WPF designer
       wvc.Navigate(new Uri("https://www.microsoft.com"));
     }
   }
   

WinForms Example:

public partial class Form1 : Form
{
  public Form1()
  {
    InitializeComponent();

    // You can also use the Source property here or in the designer
    webView1.Navigate(new Uri("https://www.microsoft.com"));
  }
}

Please refer to this link for more information.

Answer 4

I had the same problem, the WebBrowser was using an old version of IE, with some googling I came across the following code that makes a change into registry and makes the WebBrowser to use the lastest IE version possible:

 public enum BrowserEmulationVersion
    {
        Default = 0,
        Version7 = 7000,
        Version8 = 8000,
        Version8Standards = 8888,
        Version9 = 9000,
        Version9Standards = 9999,
        Version10 = 10000,
        Version10Standards = 10001,
        Version11 = 11000,
        Version11Edge = 11001
    }
    public static class WBEmulator
    {
        private const string InternetExplorerRootKey = @"Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer";

        public static int GetInternetExplorerMajorVersion()
        {
            int result;

            result = 0;

            try
            {
                RegistryKey key;

                key = Registry.LocalMachine.OpenSubKey(InternetExplorerRootKey);

                if (key != null)
                {
                    object value;

                    value = key.GetValue("svcVersion", null) ?? key.GetValue("Version", null);

                    if (value != null)
                    {
                        string version;
                        int separator;

                        version = value.ToString();
                        separator = version.IndexOf('.');
                        if (separator != -1)
                        {
                            int.TryParse(version.Substring(0, separator), out result);
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
            catch (SecurityException)
            {
                // The user does not have the permissions required to read from the registry key.
            }
            catch (UnauthorizedAccessException)
            {
                // The user does not have the necessary registry rights.
            }

            return result;
        }
        private const string BrowserEmulationKey = InternetExplorerRootKey + @"\Main\FeatureControl\FEATURE_BROWSER_EMULATION";

        public static BrowserEmulationVersion GetBrowserEmulationVersion()
        {
            BrowserEmulationVersion result;

            result = BrowserEmulationVersion.Default;

            try
            {
                RegistryKey key;

                key = Registry.CurrentUser.OpenSubKey(BrowserEmulationKey, true);
                if (key != null)
                {
                    string programName;
                    object value;

                    programName = Path.GetFileName(Environment.GetCommandLineArgs()[0]);
                    value = key.GetValue(programName, null);

                    if (value != null)
                    {
                        result = (BrowserEmulationVersion)Convert.ToInt32(value);
                    }
                }
            }
            catch (SecurityException)
            {
                // The user does not have the permissions required to read from the registry key.
            }
            catch (UnauthorizedAccessException)
            {
                // The user does not have the necessary registry rights.
            }

            return result;
        }
        public static bool SetBrowserEmulationVersion(BrowserEmulationVersion browserEmulationVersion)
        {
            bool result;

            result = false;

            try
            {
                RegistryKey key;

                key = Registry.CurrentUser.OpenSubKey(BrowserEmulationKey, true);

                if (key != null)
                {
                    string programName;

                    programName = Path.GetFileName(Environment.GetCommandLineArgs()[0]);

                    if (browserEmulationVersion != BrowserEmulationVersion.Default)
                    {
                        // if it's a valid value, update or create the value
                        key.SetValue(programName, (int)browserEmulationVersion, RegistryValueKind.DWord);
                    }
                    else
                    {
                        // otherwise, remove the existing value
                        key.DeleteValue(programName, false);
                    }

                    result = true;
                }
            }
            catch (SecurityException)
            {
                // The user does not have the permissions required to read from the registry key.
            }
            catch (UnauthorizedAccessException)
            {
                // The user does not have the necessary registry rights.
            }

            return result;
        }

        public static bool SetBrowserEmulationVersion()
        {
            int ieVersion;
            BrowserEmulationVersion emulationCode;

            ieVersion = GetInternetExplorerMajorVersion();

            if (ieVersion >= 11)
            {
                emulationCode = BrowserEmulationVersion.Version11;
            }
            else
            {
                switch (ieVersion)
                {
                    case 10:
                        emulationCode = BrowserEmulationVersion.Version10;
                        break;
                    case 9:
                        emulationCode = BrowserEmulationVersion.Version9;
                        break;
                    case 8:
                        emulationCode = BrowserEmulationVersion.Version8;
                        break;
                    default:
                        emulationCode = BrowserEmulationVersion.Version7;
                        break;
                }
            }

            return SetBrowserEmulationVersion(emulationCode);
        }
        public static bool IsBrowserEmulationSet()
        {
            return GetBrowserEmulationVersion() != BrowserEmulationVersion.Default;
        }
    } 

You just need to create a class and put this code in it, then run the following code when the program starts:

 if (!WBEmulator.IsBrowserEmulationSet())
            {
                WBEmulator.SetBrowserEmulationVersion();
            }

VB.NET:

Imports Microsoft.Win32
Imports System
Imports System.Collections.Generic
Imports System.IO
Imports System.Linq
Imports System.Security
Imports System.Text
Imports System.Threading.Tasks

Public Enum BrowserEmulationVersion
    [Default] = 0
    Version7 = 7000
    Version8 = 8000
    Version8Standards = 8888
    Version9 = 9000
    Version9Standards = 9999
    Version10 = 10000
    Version10Standards = 10001
    Version11 = 11000
    Version11Edge = 11001
End Enum


Public Class WBEmulator
    Private Const InternetExplorerRootKey As String = "Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer"
    Public Shared Function GetInternetExplorerMajorVersion() As Integer

        Dim result As Integer

        result = 0

        Try
            Dim key As RegistryKey
            key = Registry.LocalMachine.OpenSubKey(InternetExplorerRootKey)
            If key IsNot Nothing Then
                Dim value As Object = If(key.GetValue("svcVersion", Nothing), key.GetValue("Version", Nothing))

                Dim Version As String
                Dim separator As Integer
                Version = value.ToString()
                separator = Version.IndexOf(".")
                If separator <> -1 Then
                    Integer.TryParse(Version.Substring(0, separator), result)
                End If
            End If

        Catch ex As SecurityException
            'The user does Not have the permissions required to read from the registry key.
        Catch ex As UnauthorizedAccessException
            'The user does Not have the necessary registry rights.
        Catch

        End Try
        GetInternetExplorerMajorVersion = result
    End Function
    Private Const BrowserEmulationKey = InternetExplorerRootKey + "\Main\FeatureControl\FEATURE_BROWSER_EMULATION"

    Public Shared Function GetBrowserEmulationVersion() As BrowserEmulationVersion

        Dim result As BrowserEmulationVersion
        result = BrowserEmulationVersion.Default

        Try
            Dim key As RegistryKey = Registry.CurrentUser.OpenSubKey(BrowserEmulationKey, True)
            If key IsNot Nothing Then
                Dim programName As String
                Dim value As Object
                programName = Path.GetFileName(Environment.GetCommandLineArgs()(0))
                value = key.GetValue(programName, Nothing)
                If value IsNot Nothing Then
                    result = CType(Convert.ToInt32(value), BrowserEmulationVersion)
                End If
            End If
        Catch ex As SecurityException
            'The user does Not have the permissions required to read from the registry key.
        Catch ex As UnauthorizedAccessException
            'The user does Not have the necessary registry rights.
        Catch

        End Try

        GetBrowserEmulationVersion = result
    End Function
    Public Shared Function SetBrowserEmulationVersion(BEVersion As BrowserEmulationVersion) As Boolean

        Dim result As Boolean = False

        Try
            Dim key As RegistryKey = Registry.CurrentUser.OpenSubKey(BrowserEmulationKey, True)
            If key IsNot Nothing Then
                Dim programName As String = Path.GetFileName(Environment.GetCommandLineArgs()(0))
                If BEVersion <> BrowserEmulationVersion.Default Then
                    'if it's a valid value, update or create the value
                    key.SetValue(programName, CType(BEVersion, Integer), RegistryValueKind.DWord)
                Else
                    'otherwise, remove the existing value
                    key.DeleteValue(programName, False)
                End If
                result = True
            End If
        Catch ex As SecurityException

            ' The user does Not have the permissions required to read from the registry key.

        Catch ex As UnauthorizedAccessException

            ' The user does Not have the necessary registry rights.

        End Try

        SetBrowserEmulationVersion = result
    End Function


    Public Shared Function SetBrowserEmulationVersion() As Boolean
        Dim ieVersion As Integer
        Dim emulationCode As BrowserEmulationVersion
        ieVersion = GetInternetExplorerMajorVersion()

        If ieVersion >= 11 Then

            emulationCode = BrowserEmulationVersion.Version11
        Else

            Select Case ieVersion
                Case 10
                    emulationCode = BrowserEmulationVersion.Version10
                Case 9
                    emulationCode = BrowserEmulationVersion.Version9
                Case 8
                    emulationCode = BrowserEmulationVersion.Version8
                Case Else
                    emulationCode = BrowserEmulationVersion.Version7
            End Select
        End If

        SetBrowserEmulationVersion = SetBrowserEmulationVersion(emulationCode)
    End Function

    Public Shared Function IsBrowserEmulationSet() As Boolean
        IsBrowserEmulationSet = GetBrowserEmulationVersion() <> BrowserEmulationVersion.Default
    End Function
End Class

You may use it like:

If Not WBEmulator.IsBrowserEmulationSet() Then
    WBEmulator.SetBrowserEmulationVersion()
End If

Answer 5

Chrome uses (a fork of) Webkit if you didn't know, which is also used by Safari. Here's a few questions that are of the same vein:

• Embedding Webkit with C#
• Embedding Gecko (Firefox engine) with C#

The webkit one isn't great as the other answer states, one version no longer works (the google code one) and the Mono one is experimental. It'd be nice if someone made the effort to make a decent .NET wrapper for it but it's not something anyone seems to want to do - which is surprising given it now has support for HTML5 and so many other features that the IE(8) engine lacks.

Update (2014)

There's new dual-licensed project that allows you embed Chrome into your .NET applications called Awesomium. It comes with a .NET api but requires quite a few hacks for rendering (the examples draw the browser window to a buffer, paint the buffer as an image and refresh on a timer).

I think this is the browser used by Origin in Battlefield 3.

Update (2016)

There is now DotnetBrowser, a commercial alternative to Awesomium. It's based off Chromium.

Answer 6

Geckofx and Webkit.net were both promising at first, but they didn't keep up to date with Firefox and Chrome respectively while as Internet Explorer improved, so did the Webbrowser control, though it behaves like IE7 by default regardless of what IE version you have but that can be fixed by going into the registry and change it to IE9 allowing HTML5.