Report: Microsoft to Ditch Edge Browser

John Lister's picture

Sources close to Microsoft suggest that the company may ditch its Edge browser as the default option in Windows 10. Its replacement would run on the same underlying code as Google's Chrome.

While Edge has failed to win the hearts of most users, it appears the main reason behind the move is that site developers are tired of having to do extra work to make their sites work on the browser.

The most recent statistics show Chrome dominating the browser market, being used on more than 70 per cent of computers, compared with just four percent running Edge. Given that Edge is the default option on Windows 10, which runs on more than a third of computers, it's clear a huge number of users have actively rejected it.

New Browser Could Come In Spring

Sources quoted by Windows Central say Microsoft is now working on a replacement browser with the internal codename of Anaheim. While this isn't confirmed, it would likely debut with the next major Windows 10 update. That's due in April, 2019, though people in Microsoft's test program would see the browser before that. (Source: windowscentral.com)

It's not yet clear if Microsoft will rebrand or use the Edge name again, or if the user interface will remain the same. What's significant here is a switch in the rendering engine. That's the real meat of the browser, responsible for turning the web page's raw code into what the user actually sees and interacts with.

Edge had its own rendering engine known as EdgeHTML, which Microsoft hoped would be faster and use less computing power than existing browsers. However, the new browser will reportedly use a rendering engine called Blink, taken from the Chromium project.

Chromium is a set of open source code overseen by Google that anyone can use to build web tools such as browsers, with its best known use being Google's own Chrome browser.

Web Site Compatibility Easier

The new browser would have a couple of big benefits even if it doesn't catch on with users. Firstly it would reduce the need for web developers to write extra code into pages to make sure they look and work fundamentally the same in Chrome and Edge.

Secondly, it would give Microsoft more incentive to contribute to the Chromium project. That's important as it's already had some input into making Chromium-based browsers work on ARM processors. That could make it easier for Microsoft to produce lightweight devices which have a long battery life but can still run Windows 10 and browsers such as Chrome or the replacement for Edge. (Source: itproportal.com)

What's Your Opinion?

Do you use Chrome, Firefox, or Microsoft Edge? Is it a smart move to replace the browser? Are you happy to see Microsoft and Google working more closely together?

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Average: 5 (9 votes)

Comments

Dennis Faas's picture

I'll say one thing: Edge is quick but that's about it - beyond that it's not very useful. I have been using Firefox for the last 15 or so years. In the last 8 or so of those years I've been using an addon called "Tab Groups", which is not longer in development because Firefox switched its codebase. Now I'm using "Sync Tab Groups" but it's not quite the same. I'd switch to Chrome if there was a similar addon but have not seen anything remotely close. I find Chrome to be a little faster than Firefox.

kitekrazy's picture

There were some great extensions for the older Firefox. I still like having menus on my browsers. I use both Firefox and Chrome since Roboform works better in Chrome.

n7mpj's picture

I tried EDGE but found it wasn't compatible with any flash player. I do a lot of online games such as Plarium games and Zynga games. Neither worked well with the browser so I went back to Chrome. I'll use Firefox once in a while but always go back to Chrome because Roboform does work better in that browser.

steve.mcwilliam_11637's picture

I have Firefox, Chrome, Opera and Edge on my desktop - all are kept fully up to date. My main browser is Firefox and I occasionally use Chrome. Opera is used rarely and I have only used Edge on a couple of occasions and I think those were when the OS chose it rather than me opening it deliberately.

I use a couple of websites which have Flash based data entry facilities and I find that Firefox gives me the best support for these.

mrkastrin's picture

Does anyone know whether the new Edge/Anaheim browser will be available for Windows 7 & 8 users or will it still be restricted to Windows 10?

jimain's picture

I'm webmaster for a small organization. Last summer I had trouble with my usual Chrome so tried Firefox, which solved that problem but had other idiosyncrasies. Went to Edge, decided to make it work, and it did for me. Worried about the 100+ website users, but no one complained (perhaps it's less than 100 users. I didn't enjoy the multitude of tests I had to run. Six months later, I've had to do some adapting several times. It'd be much better for most standard (Home style)users if there were one standardized set of behaviors.

spiras's picture

I don't use Edge much, but recently I came across a feature it has which I really like: when you display a webpage in reading mode (clicking the book icon in the url window), a bar pops up which enables you, among other things, to have the page read out to you with the voices built into Windows. Saves time and energy.

I hope they'll keep this in Anaheim.