Microsoft Edge is now Chrome Powered

Edge was a nice attempt at a new browser but. Well.. That’s done now.

A little Internet Explorer History
Internet explorer had a great run as code actually developed by Microsoft. The project itself was started in 1994 and was built using source code from Spyglass. The software OWNED most internet traffic in the late 90s and early 2000’s, most traffic was sourced from Internet Explorer.

…but the price for paving the the way comes in the form of backwards comparability. Without going through the entire operating history to outline all the built in features, support, and non-standard extensions – the recent unveiling of Microsoft Edge and the intentional separate branding from Internet Explorer can be summed up by saying – the weight of having to build a browser that did all that internet explorer did (backwards compatibility) started to catch up with it. IE got slow, latent, and for a good stretch of time – was VERY susceptible to software attack by malicious code due to the built in compatibility. Edge – was an attempt to get away from all the LEGACY items IE supported and start over new. with a product focused on the future, not the past. While this all sounds good – at some point you have to ask yourself, what are we doing here? Why are we doing it? Is it profitable for the company? When it comes down to it – Microsoft doesnt really have a lot to gain but in fact, has more to lose maintaining their own browser. If something goes wrong or their is a bug/vulnerability – its on Microsoft.

Why rebuild the wheel?
I am not a huge Google fan, but their is no getting around the fact that they, in essance, are a huge part of what we call the internet today. Google is by far, the most used source of internet searches on the internet, generates a VAST amount of user data from the Android OS, gathers analytics from GMail, and can predict internet usage from the information gathered by the Chrome browser. The internet is what Google does. And its my personal opinion that this very idea is the main reason Microsoft decided to let IE go. Microsoft, over the last few years has taken the Apple aproach to running their company. Do what you do good, and dont do what you do… well.. bad. Microsoft makes one of the most used operating systems on the planet, SQL is a beast, Office365 is perfect, their physical product line is SOLID, etc.. etc.. Microsofts first dance with – letting it go (Yes I have a 2 year old.. Yes I have watched Frozen in excess of 4 trillion times) was their Windows Phone. It was bad, they let it go. Internet Explorer was getting bad, and it was time to do something about it.

So what do we do now?
We download the new things! And play with them! lol.. Microsoft has taken to customizing a few versions of the chrome browser and are now calling it the new Microsoft Edge. (Many other browsers (ex : Opera) do this. Very soon – Microsoft will replace edge with the chrome based edge and most people – will have no clue what happened, it will just work better, be faster, and more secure.

Where do I get it?
Download the new version of Microsoft Edge Here : https://www.microsoftedgeinsider.com/en-us/download

It even works on MAC!