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Chromium-based Edge preview builds

blogs.windows.com

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Re: Chromium-based Edge preview builds

#61

Post by pcwalton »

rayiner wrote: post #60

I liked Edge because of its fantastic battery life (for browsing, Edge was like having a 25% larger battery.) I was annoyed that many sites seemed to be Chrome-specific, including some I absolutely need to rely on. I switched to Brave, and it's amazing. Chrome-based, but somehow results in far better battery life than Chrome.

> I liked Edge because of its fantastic battery life (for browsing, Edge was like having a 25% larger battery.)

For what it's worth, I suspect this is the result of using the system DirectComposition. If you look at the more recent additions to that API, they're essentially just CSS 3. Basically, Windows integrates portions of CSS deeply into its OS stack, like macOS does with Core Animation. It's sad that moving to Chromium will regress this elegant architecture, as saving the extra blits that come from doing everything at the application level as Chromium mostly does (except for video playback IIRC) is a nice power and performance improvement.

> Chrome-based, but somehow results in far better battery life than Chrome.

Most likely because of ad blocking.

Re: Chromium-based Edge preview builds

#62

Post by [deleted] »

lousken wrote: post #49
fgonzag wrote: post #28

I wish they've would have gone with Firefox's Quantum, in order to try and at least balance out web market shares. MSFT no longer has any leverage in the web, so trying to keep it fair and accessible (no browser monopolies) should be a priority for them (especially since they have quite a few web platforms like office 365)

I hope Apple would turn away from webkit and invested into firefox. They're both privacy focused so it seems like a logical choice.

[deleted]

Re: Chromium-based Edge preview builds

#63

Post by Jedd »

olliej wrote: post #13

Can we finally stop saying safari is the new ie, and recognize that chrome is now literally the new IE? Seriously, this means that chrome has more or less complete market dominance at this point.

> Can we finally stop saying safari is the new ie, and recognize that chrome is now literally the new IE?

I never said that, and chrome is not literally the new IE, no matter how poorly the word literally is misused.

Chromium is a free (a blend of BSD-style, MIT, GPL, and other generally regarded as free licences apply) piece of software that's performant, cross-platform, receives regular feature updates, rarely breaks backwards compatibility, and doesn't try to lock you into one vendor. Compare and contrast the history of IE.

Microsoft's (new) Edge is using Chromium.

> Seriously, this means that chrome has more or less complete market dominance at this point.

No it doesn't. This is hyperbole.

Re: Chromium-based Edge preview builds

#64

Post by ghostly_s »

emp_ wrote: post #11

To the surprise of no one, its basically chrome. Even my google account came in logged in automatically, same recent sites etc. I wonder if the roadmap will include things like dark mode, I never used the annotations feature so can't vouch much for it. I'm yet to try to make a MS Teams call but looking good so far. The single engine world domination plan takes one step further today.

> Even my google account came in logged in automatically, same recent sites etc.

LOL, this is hilarious.

Re: Chromium-based Edge preview builds

#65

Post by leeoniya »

saagarjha wrote: post #54
leeoniya wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

when people say "Safari is the new IE" they mean that Safari has numerous bugs and missing features that take years to fix or implement. there's probably a ton of CSS stuff that doesn't need -webkit prefixes anymore in any browser (because it has been standardized). except of course in the outdated and widely-used Safari/iOS. For instance, they only now got Intersection Observer (super important to efficiently lazy l…

Let's not beat around the bush: Intersection Observer can and will be used to detect ad impressions too. Calling it "super important to lazy load images" doesn't show the whole picture.

ummm, did you get the impression that i was beating around the bush? i stated exactly why i've personally needed it and have had to resort to polyfills even for the latest iOS.

> Intersection Observer can and will be used to detect ad impressions too.

yes, and? would you rather it be done using inefficient, non-passive onscroll, onresize and onorientationchange events with a bunch more MutationObserver and getBoundingclientRect() sprinkled in plus a generous helping of setInterval(..., 100) for UI polling? cause that's how things basically work today (and how the polyfill works). replacing all that junk with a normal, optimized API is exactly how it should be.

Re: Chromium-based Edge preview builds

#66

Post by fjp »

saagarjha wrote: post #53
lousken wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hope Apple would turn away from webkit and invested into firefox. They're both privacy focused so it seems like a logical choice.

Why would they do that when they essentially control an entire browser engine?

Because their browser engine sucks, people just use it on mobile (iOS) because they basically have to in order to open any link.

Every full time job I've had I've been issued a MacBook and step 1 of setup was "install Firefox or Chrome".

Safari is one of the few things that truly outright blows about the Apple ecosystem.

Re: Chromium-based Edge preview builds

#67

Post by ghostly_s »

samdixon wrote: post #14
partiallypro wrote: post #2

It looks nice so far, but Microsoft really needs to drop the E logo, and maybe even the Edge name. Both already have negative connotations; and I don't think Microsoft can now claim that it makes it easier to find access to the internet. Especially when Chrome and Safari on tablets and phones look nothing like the iconic blue E, and yet late age boomers can still figure out the devices.

I agree with this sentiment. Edge was an extremely fast browser and I think it lost before it was even released simply by using similar branding to Explorer.

Edge lost because, even in April 2019, it is a buggy pile of shit that lacks fundamental features it's competitors have and chokes on web pages constantly. (I'm forced to use it for work.)

Re: Chromium-based Edge preview builds

#68

Post by ghostly_s »

abrowne wrote: post #52
s_y_n_t_a_x wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not so sure that all old consumers can find another browser icon. Most in my experience look for the E.

That's what they said when they announced the Edge name – if they didn't choose an E- name (and logo), literally millions of people wouldn't be able to get on the web.

Now try to imagine providing support for one of these users and explaining no, you're clicking the wrong shade of blue 'e'.

Re: Chromium-based Edge preview builds

#69

Post by saagarjha »

fjp wrote: post #66
saagarjha wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would they do that when they essentially control an entire browser engine?

Because their browser engine sucks, people just use it on mobile (iOS) because they basically have to in order to open any link. Every full time job I've had I've been issued a MacBook and step 1 of setup was "install Firefox or Chrome". Safari is one of the few things that truly outright blows about the Apple ecosystem.

Safari is the first thing I launch when I open my Mac and it's the last thing that I quit before shutting it down. If you're looking for battery life and RAM to spare for other applications, use Safari.

Re: Chromium-based Edge preview builds

#70

Post by WorldMaker »

basch wrote: post #38
emp_ wrote: post #11

To the surprise of no one, its basically chrome. Even my google account came in logged in automatically, same recent sites etc. I wonder if the roadmap will include things like dark mode, I never used the annotations feature so can't vouch much for it. I'm yet to try to make a MS Teams call but looking good so far. The single engine world domination plan takes one step further today.

it says on the first launch page that dark mode is coming.

There's also an experimental option to turn on in edge:flags.
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