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Announcing Microsoft Edge for iOS and Android, Microsoft Launcher

blogs.windows.com

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Re: Announcing Microsoft Edge for iOS and Android, Microsoft Launcher

#111

Post by mixedbit »

kylealden wrote: post #99
remotelifestyle wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Edge is not a good browser. It is holding the web back with its slow adoption of HTML5 standards. (source: https://html5test.com/compare/browser/chrome-58/edge-12.html ) Edge still has a spoof referrer header vulnerability that's been known for more than 6 months now: https://www.brokenbrowser.com/referer-spoofing-patch-bypass/

The version of Edge you're linking to on HTML5Test there is two years and four major versions out of date. Edge 16 is more than 100 points higher on HTML5Test. More generally, there's a lot more to making the web great than a blind sprint to adopt every API. Just because it isn't shipping doesn't mean Microsoft isn't a (very) active participant in the standards conversations, testing behind flags, etc. That is a huge…

To add another example, WebVR API cleanup was inspired by Microsoft that joined the group working on this API. Edge isn't yet shipping WebVR, but they are helping with the work.

Re: Announcing Microsoft Edge for iOS and Android, Microsoft Launcher

#112

Post by partiallypro »

mtgx wrote: post #15
d2kx wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"On iOS, we are using the WebKit engine, as provided by iOS in the WKWebView control. That means that from a compatibility perspective, Microsoft Edge for iOS should match the version of Safari that is currently available for iOS. On Android, we are using the Blink rendering engine from the Chromium browser project."

So it's more like Faux-Edge. I guess it still provides a benefit for Edge users who want to sync their data and whatnot. It's just not too interesting beyond that. At least Firefox Focus (based on Chromium, too) is a "private by default" kind of browser, who those who care about that experience and don't want to mess with settings or don't know how to set it up so that it has maximum privacy. Speaking of which, it wo…

All browsers on iOS are not using their own render engine, Apple doesn't allow it.

Re: Announcing Microsoft Edge for iOS and Android, Microsoft Launcher

#113

Post by gok »

remotelifestyle wrote: post #93
mixedbit wrote: post #59

Edge is a good browser, people seem to default to criticizing it because of its infamous predecessor. We should root for Edge, it is in the open Web best interest to have several browsers sharing the market.

Edge is not a good browser. It is holding the web back with its slow adoption of HTML5 standards. (source: https://html5test.com/compare/browser/chrome-58/edge-12.html ) Edge still has a spoof referrer header vulnerability that's been known for more than 6 months now: https://www.brokenbrowser.com/referer-spoofing-patch-bypass/

Firstly you're comparing today's Chrome with an Edge copy from more than 2 years ago. Secondly, html5test scores are bullshit. It gives a points utterly arbitrarily; you still get 5 points for continuing to implement rejected specifications like Web SQL, while actually useful features like the FileSystem API or WebAssembly gets you nothing.

I've never used Edge and have no particular interest in it, but html5test is basically a way for Chrome users to feel good about themselves.

Re: Announcing Microsoft Edge for iOS and Android, Microsoft Launcher

#114

Post by bfred_it »

IvanK_net wrote: post #62
ocdtrekkie wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is Edge for Windows. It's called Edge. Windows 10, is believe it or not, Windows. Any computer running Windows 7 or 8.1 can still (yes, it can) be upgraded to Windows 10 for free. So the only Windows PCs which cannot run Edge were those manufactured prior to 2009. Contrary to popular belief, there is no good reason to be running Windows 7 or 8.1. All of the telemetry anti-features were backported into those ver…

90 percent of Windows 10 users that I know updated from Windows 7 unintentionally and most of them complained about it. Such updates form Microsoft have quite bad reputation. You can't just say "Hey do this irreversible software change and trust us, that you will be satisfied". I am ready to accept it e.g. from Chrome OS, but not from Microsoft.

People will complain if the colors change. I mean it's not great when things change from under your feet, but it's a OS update is a "we're doing this for you"-kind of deal. People who upgraded knowingly are generally satisfied.

Re: Announcing Microsoft Edge for iOS and Android, Microsoft Launcher

#115

Post by richardknop »

KirinDave wrote: post #108
satysin wrote: post #24

Had to happen sooner or later. I just wish Microsoft had not tied Edge so deeply into Windows 10 (did they not learn from doing the same with Internet Explorer?) as at the moment it is limited to updates as part of the OS (Windows Update) and not the Microsoft Store.

I think part of the reason for this is that you shouldn't be web browsing with old software. It's unsafe for you and others that your hardware could damage.

But apps should be update-able separately, not as part of an operating system update. That doesn't make much sense. Especially on mobile when you might want to only update single app currently relevant to you without blocking your phone for 40 minutes doing a huge update of everything. Also limited bandwidth.

Re: Announcing Microsoft Edge for iOS and Android, Microsoft Launcher

#116

Post by richardknop »

ekianjo wrote: post #44

I shall add it's funny they keep saying "Microsoft Loves Linux" but refuses to release any of their major desktop client software for Desktop Linux.

Well it's a question of ROI. How many Linux users are there really that can't wait to install Microsoft software on their desktops? People who use Linux as their desktop operating system are probably using open source alternatives of any MS client software.

And for Office they would use browser version which works fine. It makes no sense for MS to invest resources into this since there isn't enough interest to justify the investment.

Re: Announcing Microsoft Edge for iOS and Android, Microsoft Launcher

#117

Post by DonHopkins »

lostcolony wrote: post #33
MBCook wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve used edge. It’s fine. If MS had lots of people complaining about sites that didn’t work or said ‘Edge not supported’ to people who went there and that was because the site needed IndexDB I’m sure they would have added it. It clearly isn’t a huge issue for them. I can see people saying ‘If I use Edge my phone doesn’t sync bookmarks and stuff like Chrome so I use Chrome.’ I don’t think saying things like ‘people o…

Yes, it was partially tongue in cheek. That said, most of those who understand there are multiple browsers likely do so due to a time when, yes, IE was -terrible-...and so all their saved stuff, preferred plugins, etc, are in Firefox or Chrome. So their first act on getting a new computer is to reinstall and sync that stuff. Not "give that new Microsoft browser a spin".

There was actually a time in history when Internet Explorer was arguably the best browser on the Mac!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Explorer_for_Mac

Re: Announcing Microsoft Edge for iOS and Android, Microsoft Launcher

#118

Post by jmkni »

KirinDave wrote: post #105
sebazzz wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is not that they do not allow other render engines. It is that APIs to dynamically execute native code are locked down on platforms such as Windows Mobile and iOS. If you cannot dynamically execute code you cannot build a JIT JS engine which makes your webbrowser too slow compared to the competition.

This is a policy who's primary goal is to ban other browser engines. They make exceptions for lots of other app types like games.

I guess in theory you could build a browser on top of a game engine, or is that just insane?

Re: Announcing Microsoft Edge for iOS and Android, Microsoft Launcher

#119

Post by cptskippy »

exikyut wrote: post #75

TL;DR: it's NOT using its own engine on Android. It uses Blink there. " On iOS, we are using the WebKit engine, as provided by iOS in the WKWebView control. That means that from a compatibility perspective, Microsoft Edge for iOS should match the version of Safari that is currently available for iOS. " " On Android, we are using the Blink rendering engine from the Chromium browser project. " Source: https://news.ycom…

The reality is that a lot of sites query the UserAgent and deliver platform and browser specific sites. Google Search and Image Search are great examples of a crap experience if you're not using Safari on iOS or Chrome on Android.

Microsoft is skirting around this by using each platform's engine and providing the user the best experience they can.

\* Also they don't have a choice on iOS because Apple.

Re: Announcing Microsoft Edge for iOS and Android, Microsoft Launcher

#120

Post by pjc50 »

mixedbit wrote: post #59

Edge is a good browser, people seem to default to criticizing it because of its infamous predecessor. We should root for Edge, it is in the open Web best interest to have several browsers sharing the market.

Edge isn't great if you use tabs; it tends to lose them on crash/restart and doesn't make it easy to have lots of them.

It also seems to suffer from the same weird font rendering as a lot of Metro apps.

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