Forum Discussion
UI
vovchykI think that is an oversimplification of design preference. The huge popularity of Chrome over other browsers stems from its ubiquitousness on Android devices and their prevalence in the market. That is not going to change by Edge changing its look and feel. Microsoft needs differentiators to attract users otherwise just use Chrome. I for one would stop using Edge, if it was basically a Chrome clone.
I have never had a problem with HTML5 on Chrome or Firefox or any modern browser. Keep in mind that it is the engine itself that renders HTML5, so all the Blink browsers (Chrome, Vivaldi, Opera, now Edge, etc) should be expected to behave the same, as would all Gecko browsers (Firefox, Pale Moon, etc), as would Webkit browsers (Safari, or any browser available on iOS).
The hard reality is that with only 6% of market share, it is no longer financially rational for Microsoft to be sustaining its own separate browser engine. As (full disclosure) a holder of Microsoft stock, I think this is a brilliant decision. Nadella is doing everything right that Ballmer did wrong. Edge is an albatross, regardless of the vocal protestations of a tiny minority. Edge is mostly used on Windows to download Chrome and be closed forever. These metrics are not lost on Microsoft. A decision like this will allow a fraction of the staff to create a more valuable and compatible product. They can bundle it with the operating system as an afterthought, give a majority of people a browser they are instantly familiar with, and focus more on the areas where they do provide value; namely, business enterprise.
vovchyk I don't disagree that given its current market share this is the correct path for MS to take financially. I do disagree that the reason for this has anything to do with the aesteic of the browser itself. I'd written out a lot more but I feel I'm starting to digress from the purpose of this forum so I'll stop with that. Needless to say, I'm a fan of the MS app look (Office, OneNote, Windows 10, etc.) and hope they continue that with the new Edge.
And to answer your question, I'd most likely switch to FireFox if Edge became a Chrome clone.
- BruceLH that's fair. I am currently migrating to Firefox (and by extension any of its future clones). The reason I am doing this has less to do with aesthetics (I prefer Chrome/Chromium's aesthetic) and more with functionality. There is disturbing talk about eliminating or severely restricting element blocking in future versions of Chromium. It is coming.
This will have a downstream effect on Chrome, Vivaldi, Edge, Opera and any other browsers that build from Chromium. What it means practically, is that "deeper" blocking tools like uBlockOrigin will either not work, or be required to be reimagined from the ground up. You will be forced to use "approved" ad blocking that gets rid of the absolute worst of the garbage, but lets plenty of other nastiness in under the hood.
I do not like this sort of move that clearly bows to the advertisement lobby, cloaking the language in vague references to "security." It takes more and more out of the user's hands in terms of resources they want to permit to load, and those resources they do not. One of the things I love in the current Edge is that the pages load very fast and, even heavy pages.
For example, the Facebook feed loads very fast, almost in real time as you scroll the feed.
Something that does not happen in the Chrome or with this new Edge, Firefox or in other browsers.I think the EdgeHTML and Chakra engine have more performance than the Blink and V8 JS engine.
I hope the devs can do the same work, optimizations, improvements, implementations, etc, but for the Blink and V8 JS engine.As BruceLH said, if Edge is to become a Chrome clone, I will definitely switch to Firefox.