As Microsoft announces plans to rebuild Edge from the ground up, the company also said it plans to bring its new version of Edge to older versions of Windows, including Windows 7, and Windows 8, in an effort to make Edge available to more markets. In addition, Microsoft will introduce a version of Edge for macOS, making Edge a true cross-platform browser.
Microsoft is revitalizing its commitment to Edge with this move, as it wants the world to take its web browser seriously. For any web browser to have a chance at competing, it needs to be available in as many places as possible. As such, Microsoft is building a brand new browser for Edge that will be powered by Chromium and its Blink rendering engine, and it will be available as a Win32 program on Windows. A Mac version is also in the cards, but that will likely come later at an unspecified date.
Microsoft's Corporate Vice President of Windows, Joe Belfiore said the following in a blog post:
Microsoft Edge will now be delivered and updated for all supported versions of Windows and on a more frequent cadence. We also expect this work to enable us to bring Microsoft Edge to other platforms like macOS.
We don't yet have an ETA as to when we can expect this new version of Edge to be made available. Microsoft says a feature-incomplete developer preview will be ready in a few months for Windows devices, which will be our first true look at the new version of Edge.
Microsoft Edge and Chromium: Your questions, answered
Microsoft building a web browser using Chromium is a huge deal, and it showcases Microsoft's true commitment to building the best browser it can. EdgeHTML wasn't helping Edge along, and Microsoft believes rebuilding it using Chromium will give it the push it needs to compete with Google Chrome and Firefox.
What are your thoughts on this? Let us know in the comments.
