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Discussion on: Microsoft is building a Chromium based browser! 😲

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Massimo Artizzu

Honestly, I'd rather have EdgeHTML made open source than ditched altogether. What's the point of this move, especially when we're talking about the modern, Nadella-driven Microsoft?

Many complain about the loss of diversity, but on the other hand Edge has done basically nothing to let us enjoy the results of such diversity:

  • as a browser, it's quite fast but still pretty "meh": it offers nothing that Chrome or Firefox don't offer already, and better;
  • feature-wise, it's not like old IE but a lot of standard features are still not supported by Edge (Web Components, above all);
  • its devtools are disappointing.

In short, Edge had the potential to become a bigger player but Microsoft had to commit. What's happened? Maybe they never signed enough engineers to move the project forward at an adequate speed?

From an economic point of view, keeping Edge probably made little sense to Microsoft, as it just doesn't make money, directly or indirectly.

So a reduced effort it is, but as a result it has never been enough to push Google, Apple and Mozilla to try harder. A missed chance.

Well, an engine less to worry about, at least.