Opinion on the Edge stable release

cjc2112  I would be cautious about adopting the suggestion that Edge Chromium is nearing release.

Microsoft has said not a word about release timing other than to say that the browser will be released "when it is ready".

The trade press is heavy with speculation, however, right now. This is a sampling from yesterday, October 22:

Is Microsoft Edge Chromium close to a stable release? Download links are live for Windows 10
(OnMSFT 2019-10-22): "Microsoft still has yet to announce the official launch date of the new Microsoft Edge, and it’s entirely possible the download links could be removed later. But seeing as how far the company has gotten with development with new features such as Collections for organizing web pages, it wouldn’t be too surprising for the company to announce something soon."

"Stable" version of Chromium-based Edge shows up on Google Search (Neowin 2019-10-22): "However, upon running it for the first time, you'll see a page welcoming you to the Beta channel, so it's apparent the browser isn't quite ready for a general release yet. It's also the same exact version number that's currently available in the Beta channel, so it won't behave any different for now. The fact that it can be found so easily now might hint at a launch sometime soon, though."

Microsoft Edge stable download link goes live as the browser nears the launch (Overwatch 2019-10-22): "Now, after almost a year of testing, Microsoft seems to be ready for the official launch of Chromium-based Edge. First spotted by Techdows, searching for ‘Microsoft Edge stable’ on Google now shows the download link of the stable build of Microsoft Edge."

Microsoft’s Chromium Edge Stable Build Arrives on Search Results (WinBuzzer 2019-10-22): "Microsoft’s Chromium Edge Stable channel is now showing up in Google Search in Chrome 78, with a link available directly from Microsoft’s website. TechDows suggests this appearance means Microsoft is ready to send out the full release of its Chromium-based browser soon."

That's a small sampling. 

I don't put much stock in the speculation.

Edge Chromium is not ready for prime time yet (see "Top Feedback Summary for October 22" to get a sense of the tip of the iceberg), and given the complexity of deployment**, Microsoft needs to test deployment thoroughly to avoid an "update broke my box" debacle.

Deployment will likely be preceded by a "consumer education" campaign, too.  Edge Chromium is sufficiently unlike Edge (Classic) so as to cause disruption for many consumers if a "consumer education" campaign does not precede launch.

The build of the leaked "Stable" version is outdated (it is an earlier build than the current Beta), so the launch version will need careful testing, as well.

All of this suggests to me that trade press speculation about imminent release is almost certainly wrong.

Microsoft cannot afford a botched launch. I hope that Microsoft does this very carefully, and that will take time. At this point, I don't trust anything other than official Microsoft statements.

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** Based on a document intended for Enterprise customers but not directly addressing consumer deployment issues, it looks like Edge Chromium will be embedded in Windows 10 at some point during/after initial deployment, replacing Edge (Classic) and uninstallable through normal methods once deployed; accordingly, deployment is likely to be complex and prone to error/failure if not carefully managed.