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Microsoft Edge dev preview for Linux

blogs.windows.com

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Re: Microsoft Edge dev preview for Linux

#21

Post by brnt »

xen2xen1 wrote: post #9
llarsson wrote: post #3

Nice of them to make something so that CI/CD systems can run tests of frontend functionality in Edge without requiring a Windows runner. Because I cannot imagine anyone will use this unironically as their browser on their Linux desktop.

I will absolutely use this unironically on Linux, and I can't wait. Edge has all (most?) of the features of Chrome and isn't tied to Google's services. Somehow the world has twisted to where I trust Microsoft more than Google, even if it's just to not shut their stuff down on a whim. I'm trying to get all my services off Google, and if it weren't for Voice... You ought to unironically try it.

Why send your data to Big Tech when today you can avoid it (ungoogled chromium et al)?

Re: Microsoft Edge dev preview for Linux

#22

Post by Barrin92 »

llarsson wrote: post #3

Nice of them to make something so that CI/CD systems can run tests of frontend functionality in Edge without requiring a Windows runner. Because I cannot imagine anyone will use this unironically as their browser on their Linux desktop.

I'll definitely use it as soon as the linux version gets the text-to-speech version that the windows build has, which is really good.

Re: Microsoft Edge dev preview for Linux

#23

Post by KitDuncan »

arsenalist wrote: post #18

I'm on Ubuntu and the sole purpose I'll be using this for is Netflix @ Ultra HD. Still baffles me why is Edge the only browser supporting it.

I don't think playready DRM is in the Linux version. If that's the case you'll be limited to 720p there as well.

Re: Microsoft Edge dev preview for Linux

#24

Post by implicator »

xen2xen1 wrote: post #9
llarsson wrote: post #3

Nice of them to make something so that CI/CD systems can run tests of frontend functionality in Edge without requiring a Windows runner. Because I cannot imagine anyone will use this unironically as their browser on their Linux desktop.

I will absolutely use this unironically on Linux, and I can't wait. Edge has all (most?) of the features of Chrome and isn't tied to Google's services. Somehow the world has twisted to where I trust Microsoft more than Google, even if it's just to not shut their stuff down on a whim. I'm trying to get all my services off Google, and if it weren't for Voice... You ought to unironically try it.

I’m unironically using Firefox.

Re: Microsoft Edge dev preview for Linux

#25

Post by hakfoo »

k__ wrote: post #2

Wasn't there a post hear some time ago, arguing that MS won't wind down Windows and going full in on Linux? My guess is, OS money is over and MS wants to safe budget in the long run running its money makers on Linux etc.

The problem is that if they offer anything but 1000% bug-compatibility, a Linux-based Windows is just another Windows RT-style penalty box. Yeah, it runs Edge and Office, but none of the closed-source line-of-business software that are baked into people's refined-over-20-years workflow. None of the games with such aggressive and brittle DRM and anti-cheat they break under even official Insider builds. None of the drivers for obscure peripherals that the manufacturer disowned by 2010. You still have a sky-high switching risk.

The way out I could imagine would be some sort of packaged virtualization, like the "XP Mode" feature on Windows 7. Your legacy apps spin up in a thin, well-integrated VM which ran a "final" build of classic Win10 designed for minimal disruption. The VMs, in turn, would be aggressively sandboxed and firewalled to keep it tamed. I'd suspect there'd still be some gaps-- drivers for hardware that can't be easily wired to a VM, but I suspect there's a mountain of logistics and performance issues that don't fit in a two-paragraph post.

Re: Microsoft Edge dev preview for Linux

#26

Post by hackerfromthefu »

GekkePrutser wrote: post #15
AnIdiotOnTheNet wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Microsoft makes a pretty good amount of money on Windows licensing, and a whole lot of places run Windows because 1) AD is pretty great, and 2) A lot of software businesses rely on is Windows only. I do not see this changing in the near future. I can't see a strong incentive for companies to switch to Linux even if MS brings AD, GPOs, Office, and its own MS-supported WINE.

AD is not great. It depends on a legacy model with trusted company networks that was out even before COVID and all the home working hammered the last nail into its coffin. Setting up new systems with it remotely is a real pain, something the EMM model fixes completely.

Interested in more detail on this?

Re: Microsoft Edge dev preview for Linux

#27

Post by egorfine »

llarsson wrote: post #3

Nice of them to make something so that CI/CD systems can run tests of frontend functionality in Edge without requiring a Windows runner. Because I cannot imagine anyone will use this unironically as their browser on their Linux desktop.

I absolutely will run Edge on Linux as soon as it's ready. It's the same Chrome but with a much stronger privacy promise from Microsoft.

Re: Microsoft Edge dev preview for Linux

#28

Post by fogihujy »

2OEH8eoCRo0 wrote: post #17
llarsson wrote: post #3

Nice of them to make something so that CI/CD systems can run tests of frontend functionality in Edge without requiring a Windows runner. Because I cannot imagine anyone will use this unironically as their browser on their Linux desktop.

I'd use it. It's a chromium based browser by someone not being investigated for antitrust

It's funny how Microsoft became the lesser evil after being considered worse than Satan for a very long time. I don't disagree with you, but it's still funny.

Re: Microsoft Edge dev preview for Linux

#29

Post by eznzt »

brnt wrote: post #21
xen2xen1 wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I will absolutely use this unironically on Linux, and I can't wait. Edge has all (most?) of the features of Chrome and isn't tied to Google's services. Somehow the world has twisted to where I trust Microsoft more than Google, even if it's just to not shut their stuff down on a whim. I'm trying to get all my services off Google, and if it weren't for Voice... You ought to unironically try it.

Why send your data to Big Tech when today you can avoid it (ungoogled chromium et al)?

I am on Windows and I would like to use ungoogled Chromium but I don't see it as a choice because it does not have automatic updates and I am concerned about my security. I suppose this is a solved problem on Linux?

Re: Microsoft Edge dev preview for Linux

#30

Post by GekkePrutser »

hackerfromthefu wrote: post #26
GekkePrutser wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

AD is not great. It depends on a legacy model with trusted company networks that was out even before COVID and all the home working hammered the last nail into its coffin. Setting up new systems with it remotely is a real pain, something the EMM model fixes completely.

Interested in more detail on this?

In which way?

I work in EMM (though not Windows) and we are rapidly moving to Intune/Azure AD now because of this change. Onboarding new machines has become a nightmare when people can't go to the office.

The problem is a catch-22.. We require a 'trusted' machine to connect to the VPN. Yet the VPN is required to connect to AD and bind it, which is the de-facto way it becomes trusted.

Before someone in the office would do this but in many cases this hasn't been possible since COVID so it's exposed the issues with this approach. But even before that, working from home has been causing a lot of friction.

Everyone is moving to EMM models now, like Google Beyondcorp. MS is pushing Intune now as main management, with 'comanagement' with AD for the time being because it doesn't have the same scope of functionality yet. But it's clear that their long-term plan is to abandon it.

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