Microsoft is developing a browser based on Chromium, which will be supplied by default instead of Edge

The end of a multi-year standoff, although it was rather a beating.

Since 2015, Microsoft has been actively promoting its new browser, which was first named Spartan, and later called Edge. At that time, the company recognized that Internet Explorer was obsolete and many users expected some kind of breakthrough from the main supplier of user OS in the world, however, instead of innovations, the community received the same donkey, but in a new package.

After almost four years, Microsoft almost signed up for a defeat on the browser market and acknowledged the weakness of EdgeHTML used by them. And a few months ago, the company's engineers began developing their own browser based on Chromium - the most popular modern engine - as evidenced by commits in Chromium Gerrit. The new project was code-named Anaheim.

First of all, the new browser is aimed at use in ARM-systems. On this platform, Google Chrome and other browsers based on Chromium have traditional difficulties due to the need to work in emulation mode. First of all, manufacturers of these chips are interested in creating a browser on Chromium under ARM, specifically Qualcomm.

Back in October of this year, the network has information about creating a version of Chrome , adapted for work on laptops with an ARM processor running Windows 10, in the development of which Microsoft engineers also participated.

In fact, even then, Microsoft sacrificed its plans to promote the Edge to the masses in favor of user comfort: Chrome / Chromium browsers dominate the market, and problems with the performance of this family on ARM systems gave consumers a lot of discomfort.



Thus, Microsoft, as an OEM supplier of software for a variety of devices, plans to make these products more attractive to the consumer in terms of user experience (specifically in surfing). The company accepted that EdgeHTML is less stable and fast than Chromium, and browser development based on Chromium technology is a better way than imposing Edge on users.

Since Microsoft has repeatedly declared about a single ecosystem, the new Anaheim browser can be waited on the PC, although the company is hiding behind the needs of the ARM sector. It is not yet known whether the new browser will inherit the Edge brand or have its own. It is not clear whether anything will change for users from a visual point of view, because nothing prevents Microsoft from packing the new browser on the Chromium engine into the Edge skin, but it is worth noting that changing the engine will definitely benefit the default browser. from Microsoft.

How did Microsoft go to such a step? Unlike many other “diehard” CEOs of large technology companies, Satya Nadella has considerable flexibility in making “reputationally toxic” decisions to the point of quirkiness. EdgeHTML was presented to the technical community as a great new tool, but Microsoft was faced with the fact that in its own corporate segment very, very many things are done “by default under Chrome”, simply because it is the most popular browser. And if Microsoft needs to ensure the comfort of the corporate segment, which has already spent millions, if not billions, on developing “under Chrome as a standard,” sacrificing a bit of principles and recognizing Chromium, then Microsoft Nadella will do it. More precisely, already done.



Of course, 15 years ago it was impossible to imagine jumping on the stage and screaming Ballmer, but as of 2018, Microsoft has been fighting for so long. I even tried restarting, but Spartan-Edge turned out to be just a bath-new browser, from which no-no “wrapper”, and IE would seem.

Some observers are in favor of the fact that we will see the first versions of Anaheim already in the insider fast ring builds of the 19H1 cycle ( Insider Preview Build 18290 ), which was announced at the end of November. Also in the future we will have at least a few official announcements from Microsoft on this topic.