Microsoft will use Chromium as the basis for the Edge engine

In 2015 Microsoft launched its Edge web browser, which would go on to replace and remove Internet Explorer from the war of web browsers. But since its release, Microsoft's new browser has not generated more followers with Windows 10.

The new MS browser came with a new engine technology, EdgeHTML, which promised to render internet pages faster, as well as making the browser safer, faster and lighter.

But that was not what happened, in a short space of time it was shown with many errors, glitches and problems that made Edge users in Windows 10 choose to put it aside.

And so it was Today only 4% of people use Edge to access the Internet, even with all of Microsoft's marketing effort.

Edge change confirmed

Microsoft has officially confirmed the information about the transfer of its Edge web browser to the Chromium open source browser engine.

Likewise, Microsoft argues that the name of the Edge browser will continue to be preserved, with which a new version of Edge will be prepared for all compatible Windows desktop platforms.

“In the future, we plan to create a version for other platforms, such as macOS. The first trial version of Edge on the Chromium engine is expected in early 2019. In the process of working on the browser, Microsoft will join the development of Chromium and return to the project improvements and fixes created for Edge. "

Mozilla believes that Edge's transition to the Chromium engine will have a negative impact on the web due to less competition in the browser market and a decrease in the choice of alternatives.

Competition between Microsoft, Google and Mozilla products was the main incentive for expanding the functionality of browsers and the development of modern web technologies in the last 10 years.

Microsoft's transition to Chromium will make this engine completely dominant in the market.

On the one hand, this will reduce fragmentation on the web and make life easier for web developers who do not have to adapt their products to different browsers, but on the other hand, it will risk slowing down development and make it difficult to promote innovations. Well now only Firefox would remain as an alternative.

Although the Chromium project is free and anyone can participate in its development, the Chromium development infrastructure and decision-making process are fully controlled by Google.

Mozilla fears for a monopoly of the browser market

The Mozilla representatives fear that the use of Chromium as the basis for most browsers allows a company to control the entire infrastructure online.

There are risks of imposing on web developers or companies of certain technologies (for example, Chrome has already tried to avoid displaying the traditional URL in the address bar, which is beneficial to create the illusion of accessing the site directly when using the technology of Accelerated Mobile Pages promoted by Google).

There is also the danger of a repeat of the crisis and stagnation observed during the Internet Explorer monopoly.

When 90% of all browsers are based on a single engine, it is easier for web developers to rely on single engine development and use its specific features without considering the problem of compatibility with alternatives.

Partially, this behavior is already observed in the field of mobile web applications, for which developers often use experimental testing capabilities with the prefix "-webkit-", without regard to standards and without bothering to ensure compatibility. with less popular engines.

With this move Microsoft takes a further step in the adoption of open source in its product portfolio, of which the most prominent are WLinux, GitHub, Azure and above all the opening of 60.000 licenses among others.