Micro$oft to scrap shitty Edge browser, replace it with a Chromium clone

windowscentral.com
Microsoft is building a Chromium-powered web browser that will replace Edge on Windows 10
Zac Bowden
3-4 minutes

Microsoft's Edge web browser has seen little success since its debut on Windows 10 in 2015. Built from the ground up with a new rendering engine known as EdgeHTML, Microsoft Edge was designed to be fast, lightweight, and secure, but it launched with a plethora of issues that resulted in users rejecting it early on. Edge has since struggled to gain traction, thanks to its continued instability and lack of mindshare, from users and web developers.

Because of this, I'm told that Microsoft is throwing in the towel with EdgeHTML and is instead building a new web browser powered by Chromium, which uses a similar rendering engine first popularized by Google's Chrome browser known as Blink. Codenamed "Anaheim," this new browser for Windows 10 will replace Edge as the default browser on the platform, according to my sources, who wish to remain anonymous. It's unknown at this time if Anaheim will use the Edge brand or a new brand, or if the user interface (UI) between Edge and Anaheim is different. One thing is for sure, however; EdgeHTML in Windows 10's default browser is dead.

EdgeHTML is dead — long live Chromium

Many will be happy to hear that Microsoft is finally adopting a different rendering engine for the default web browser on Windows 10. Using Chromium means websites should behave just like they do on Google Chrome in Microsoft's new Anaheim browser, meaning users shouldn't suffer from the same instability and performance issues found in Edge today. This is the first step towards revitalizing Windows 10's built-in web browser for users across PCs and phones. Edge on iOS and Android already uses rendering engines native to those platforms, so not much will be changing on that front.

In addition, Microsoft engineers were recently spotted committing code to the Chromium project to help get Google Chrome running on ARM. Perhaps some of that work will translate over to getting Anaheim running on Windows 10 on ARM, too.

I expect we'll see Microsoft introduce Anaheim throughout the 19H1 development cycle, which Insiders are currently testing in the Fast ring. This is a big deal for Windows. Microsoft's web browser should finally be able to compete alongside Chrome, Opera and Firefox, and those who are all-in with the Microsoft ecosystem will finally be getting a browser from Microsoft that works well when browsing the web.

There's still lots we don't know about Anaheim, and I'm sure we'll hear more about it officially from Microsoft in the coming weeks.

I bought a new laptop and only used Edge to download Chrome and Firefox.

So let me simplify for the sake of me and a few others here that have worked in the IT industry for our entire careers. The Java programmers at Microsoft don't have the skill set to keep Edge proprietary. So they're moving the app to open-source chromium so every Gggooggggle idiot will see Edge perform in the same fashion. This is great news. You gotta love it when something as simple as open-source gets the corporate treatment and sanitizes the output for corporate consumption and consumer applications.

And to add to the comedy IBM buys Red Hat to port Linux onto their mainframes. I know IBM was in bad shape but there goes the open source. Is Debian Linux still available? I am so glad I'm out of this business any longer. What's so funny here is IBM bought Red Hat for $34b and Red Hat was probably only worth $20b. And you used it for free.

IBM says: With this acquisition, IBM will remain committed to Red Hat’s open governance, open source contributions, participation in the open source community and development model, and fostering its widespread developer ecosystem.

I've got a pretty good memory still so can we plug in Oracle and Sun? There was genuine open source sprawl after that. Any open source programmers getting the license and support changes pop up?

It's going to be a big wait-and-see but my guess is they'll use low code development for older applications and interface requirements and the new Edge open source product will just be another Ggooogglleeeegggedd clone.

The inherently obvious marketing tactics should be: Google, we've made even Microsoft look stupid...

It's not Edge is a terrible browser, the problem with it is the default page that is nothing more than advertisements and rather difficult settings. Micro$oft may have built it from the ground up but they did not make it user friendly.

And I just received a link from my Linux guy with a good recommendation:

https://linuxmint.com/

and I've been told Debian is alive and well.

https://www.debian.org/

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kristy

It's not Edge is a terrible browser, the problem with it is the default page that is nothing more than advertisements and rather difficult settings. Micro$oft may have built it from the ground up but they did not make it user friendly.

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Great point. With gamers still basically driving the technology that's a perfect example of how the consumer is impacted. I don't know what your programming skill set is but open Edge to one of your sites and hit F12 once you've landed. It's incredible how much crap they packed in to the coding.

LinuxMint is my recommendation for those who are new to Linux. It works right out of the box, and you never have to use command line functions in a terminal window unless you really want to. If you like Ubuntu, you'll love Mint.

Mint also has a Debian version, for those on the geekier side who want to take a chance with a rolling distro. Or straight Debian still works, of course.

The real hyper-Linux geeks use Arch, but that's not one I recommend to anyone just coming over from Windows (or even AppleVille) Even Manjaro (which is to Arch what Ubuntu & Mint are to Debian) has a slightly higher learning curve for the average newbie.

Like Twona I think I used Edge for about 30 seconds such is the assumption these days that any Microsoft browser will be shit. I actually still have to use Internet Explorer from time to time because some corporate security remote stuff only works with it.

I'll say one thing though - for all those years when the cool kids were going on about Jobs et al being the good guys and Gates the uber cunt, Gates is going to end up winning the legacy thing as one of the only tech billionaires to actually do some real good with their insane wealth.

We used IE at work for the longest time and now we're on Chrome and the whole Google suite.