Microsoft Teases Its Edge Browser For macOS (theverge.com) 76
In a blog post detailing new features coming to Edge, Microsoft has started teasing what Edge will look like on macOS. The Verge reports: During the company's Build 2019 developer conference, Microsoft is announcing new features for Edge on Windows and teasing the upcoming macOS release. We understand that the release will be available very soon, and Mac users should be able to access both the Canary and Dev builds of Edge just like Windows. Microsoft's implementation of Chromium on Edge has so far seen good performance improvements and reliability on Windows. It's not clear if we'll see similar improvements on the macOS side versus Chrome, but at least it gives Mac users another Chromium option with some Microsoft services and sync integration. MacRumors notes that Edge "will be Microsoft's first web browser on the Mac since Internet Explorer received its last feature update nearly 16 years ago."
My question is (Score:5, Insightful)
Just my 2 cents
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The real question is who cares?
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Yea- nobody cares.
Re:My question is (Score:5, Insightful)
And the answer to that is "why not".
The underlying engine is already cross platform, so why not bring the rest of it (plugins, bookmark syncing etc, whatever MS is doing which differentiates it from Chrome) to other platforms? People who use both Windows and OSX may appreciate it, and at the end of the day it doesn't cost Microsoft much in the way of investment to do, so why not?
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So the user data is monetized by Microsoft, Google and not just Apple as with plain Safari. What is the value added by MS and Google for the user on this scheme?
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Sure, but the story is about Edge for macOS. Did you even read?
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That's nice. What does that have to do with Mac again?
Oh, you couldn't even be bothered to read the fucking headline?
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To deny Google an uncontested foothold there. And to push Microsoft-based services there. Do they still care about Bing? Sure they do - to the extent that they still have a pretty strong desktop monopoly, and presumably still want to leverage that to get into other businesses - or damage competitors to blunt their ability to compete where MS truly wants to remain dominant.
To the extent that Chrome is a Google 'foot in the door', I guess they'd pick up some Google haters and possibly do some damage to G's
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Microsoft lost the "ubiquitous computing" war when they lost the battle for cell phones. Apple set the pace with iOS, then Google raised the stakes with Android, while Microsoft tried to play catch-up and figure out how this new-fangled "Internet" thing worked.
Now this is the "embrace" cycle again. Linux on Windows, cross-platform applications, and a steady underpinning of network-based services for "synergy". It's 1999 all over again. I'm getting flashbacks of lime-green iMacs running Office 98, and IE def
Windows history on PCs & phones (Score:2)
I know that /. is normally full of Microsoft/Windows haters, but I do recognize the difference. Windows 7 was great. Windows XP was good. So was NT and 2000. However, everything since Windows 8 has been just horrible. Ever since Microsoft tried to converge everything there, and gave Windows 10 the switchable mobile interface, things have just gone south from there on the desktop front.
Windows Phone 8 was okay, and Windows 10 Mobile was actually good. What was a problem was it taking Microsoft that l
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Windows 7 was great. Windows XP was good. So was NT and 2000. However, everything since Windows 8 has been just horrible.
Agreed. I ran Win7 for I dunno, 10 years or so until their latest 'updates' knocked me off the air and crippled my system.
January 1st I switched to Linux Mint and have never looked back. There were some minor bumps getting all my data transferred but it's all good now. I have VirtualBox installed with Win7 but I never use it. I thought I would but I don't.
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Now this is the "embrace" cycle again. Linux on Windows
I threw up in my mouth a little bit when I read that.
Linux on Windows is like apple pie served on a plate made of diarrhea.
If MS really wanted market penetration they'd produce a solid version of their office suite that would run natively on Linux.
It would be a hit, no matter how much you hate MS or their office suite. People would buy it, as distasteful as the idea is to many of us.
But they'll never do that and frankly I'm glad.
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Why ask why? :P
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The MS browser will pass all MS approved ads for display.
The fully supported application will get the ads past any attempt by the "user" to block ads.
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For the branding? Good browser and people might change the OS?
Good "free" browser and people might rent productivity apps?
To pay for services to the brand from another OS using that brands browser?
All that cost of wages to work on a browser and its "free"?
To keep up with OS changes and have the browser ready for all OS changes?
The money has to flow back for that effort AC.
Ads AC?
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Absolutely!!! Now Edge comes packaged w/ NewsGuard, which is just like the other social media companies in putting its finger down the scales in favor of Left-leaning news, while blacklisting mainstream Right-leaning news.
I preferred it when 'Tech' was out of politics, despite their Liberal leanings, as opposed to today, when they are just the online and Western version of the Chinese censors. Somehow, not much difference b/w being an American consumer of social media vs a Chinese consumer of social med
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Mac users rushing to install Edge! (Score:3)
Re:Mac users rushing to install Edge! (Score:5, Funny)
We're on the Edge of our seats?
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Can't be worse than Safari.
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Oh, yes it can.
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Finally my life is complete.
New Joke (Score:4, Insightful)
What do you call someone who likes Microsoft's new browser?
An edgelord
Pay us $5 (Score:3)
Or we will "Upgrade" your computer with it.
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Precisely!!! I'd imagine that that's the reason Mac sales have improved in the last few years: I see more of them at Starbucks and other places. It's not just the cute look of the airbooks: the fact that Windows 10 has devolved the way it has, and is headed towards a subscription based system is what's made me decide that my next computer would be a Mac
For the life of me (Score:1)
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It's called web development, and it's easier when there's a native version.
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Run (Score:5, Insightful)
>"Edge "will be Microsoft's first web browser on the Mac since Internet Explorer received its last feature update nearly 16 years ago.""
Run. Run far away. Learn from history... "Embrace, Extend, Extinguish." Microsoft has been doing a lot better lately, but I wouldn't throw support behind Edge. The last thing on earth we need [again] is a browser (or browser-engine) monoculture.... and ESPECIALLY not in the hands of Google/Microsoft!
If you are on MacOS, use Safari. Or, if you value privacy, openness, cross-platform compatibility, performance, and open standards, then install Firefox.
Re: Run (Score:1)
"Last thing we need is a monoculture" and "use Safari". Heh.
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>"Last thing we need is a monoculture" and "use Safari". Heh."
Well, everyone has to use a browser. It is not unreasonable for a MacOS user to use Safari. It is developed and controlled by Apple and is a decent browser. I was referring to an over-arching monoculture, not just one small monoculture on one platform, but the bigger picture. To that end, the worst thing a MacOS user could do would be to abandon Safari to use Chrome and now (to a lesser degree) Edge.
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If not for Firefox, we nearly have that. Chromium and Safari both derive from KHTML. And didn't Opera switch to Chromium too? I know this split predates even HTML 5, but they're still not independent.
Camino? (Score:2)
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Since I never used Camino, I was curious. So I ended up finding the answer for you:
https://arstechnica.com/gadget... [arstechnica.com]
Short version, they would have had to move to WebKit as Firefox was discontinuing the embedded Gecko engine that Camino was using.
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For most purposes, we already have a browser monoculture called Chrome at 66% of the market. In the hands of Google. Where have you been?
Comment removed (Score:5, Funny)
Isn't that nice? (Score:5, Funny)
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Ya, the title ought to read "Microsoft Threatens Its Edge Browser For MacOS". MS: Don't make me shoot me self in the head...I'm not kidding...I'll do it!!
is it the year 2000 (Score:2)
LoB
Aqua theme? (Score:2)
Solaris (Score:3)
Don't forget that they once had an IE build for Solaris. Sad to say it actually ran better than Netscape at the time.
Why would anybody bother? (Score:2)
What sane person would use Edge on ANY operating system?
Stop it already (Score:1)
Stop removing the title bar from windows you maniacs. They have a reason to exist and unless you are using a 10" screen you get nothing from removing them. At least in macOS they can't remove the menu bar to throw everything in a hamburger menu.
They are just applying Fitts' Law (Score:2)
To give you fits when forced to click more times.
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They can when their app is just a web view control. Sure, the mandatory menus are still up there, but if they don't have anything useful in them, are they used for anything but quitting?
BSOD (Score:1)
Finally we may have a chance to see BSOD on Mac !
Like yet another Chrome re-skin (Score:2)
I don't get it, it's not like the old days when there were IE-only websites to contend with. Now the poorly coded (or owned by MS/Google, but I repeat myself) sites are all Chrome-only and Chrome already exists on Mac OS.