4 ms·

This is very good news. In my opinion, this does more to keep Google in check than had they gone with Firefox's engine, or stuck with their own. (I know not ev

This is very good news. In my opinion, this does more to keep Google in check than had they gone with Firefox's engine, or stuck with their own. (I know not everyone agrees) People use Chrome because they consider it a better overall experience than other alternatives, and I happen to agree. (again, I get that not everyone here agrees with that) For whatever reason, Google has the resources and talent to make a browser that is preferred to the alternatives, by most regular users. Chromium based Edge allows users to get the best of Chrome without the worst of Google. Google knows that if they get too aggressive with decisions that are biased toward Google's bottom line (such as how they handle ad blocking and various privacy features), Microsoft can easily push back by changing these decisions in Edge. This is a very good thing. True, there is also pressure on Google from Firefox (people can abandon Chrome for Firefox if Google is too aggressive), and there is also Brave (and others) if you want the benefits of Chrome/Chromium without the worst stuff. But moving to Firefox is simply too big a move for most users and many don't like the downsides [1]. And Brave has their own revenue model to protect, and they don't have the deep pockets Microsoft has to resist the temptation to make decisions that benefit their bottom line in the short term. [1] In my case, I do a lot with MIDI in the browser, i.e. connecting a digital piano and using it within web sites that support it. Firefox doesn't support this yet, after years and years of talking about it. https://github.com/mozilla/standards-positions/issues/58 https://github.com/mozilla/standards-positions/issues/58 There are a ton of other things, but that one is a deal breaker for me. Works beautifully in the new Edge.

mtgx 7y ago
> In my opinion, this does more to keep Google in check than had they gone with Firefox's engine, or stuck with their own We'll see. Microsoft gave up developing its own browser because it found it too hard to keep pace. So the question is what happens when Google goes in a direction Microsoft doesn't like with Chromium? Do they just adopt the changes as they are because they don't want to bother developing their very own browser once again, or will they create a hard fork of Chromium that they are willing to maintain independent of Google? I'm pretty skeptical it will be the latter, but I'd like to be proven wrong.
mariushn 7y ago
Exactly. I hope MS will also take Android and release an MS version of it. Privacy oriented, no Google apps (that can't be removed either). This would put more pressure on Google than privacy fines from EU. Competition works best. I'm not an MS fan (using Linux at home, with vscode), but I'll happily switch. I wondered why MS didn't do this or partnered with Ubuntu instead of closing their Windows Phone business, fully giving up the mobile market.
- robbrown451 7y ago
  "Competition works best." Right... I mean, a certain very strategic kind of competition. Co-opetition? Direct competition would be simply offering a competing fully in-house browser or competing fully in-house mobile OS. This is kind of sneaky in that it lets Google do a lot of the heavy lifting, while still being able to yank the things (or add the things) that Microsoft wants. With regard to Edge adopting Chromium, I have to wonder whether Google sees this as a victory, or if they feel like Microsoft pulled one over on them.

mtgx 7y ago

> In my opinion, this does more to keep Google in check than had they gone with Firefox's engine, or stuck with their own We'll see. Microsoft gave up developing its own browser because it found it too hard to keep pace. So the question is what happens when Google goes in a direction Microsoft doesn't like with Chromium? Do they just adopt the changes as they are because they don't want to bother developing their very own browser once again, or will they create a hard fork of Chromium that they are willing to maintain independent of Google? I'm pretty skeptical it will be the latter, but I'd like to be proven wrong.

mariushn 7y ago

Exactly. I hope MS will also take Android and release an MS version of it. Privacy oriented, no Google apps (that can't be removed either). This would put more pressure on Google than privacy fines from EU. Competition works best. I'm not an MS fan (using Linux at home, with vscode), but I'll happily switch. I wondered why MS didn't do this or partnered with Ubuntu instead of closing their Windows Phone business, fully giving up the mobile market.

robbrown451 7y ago
"Competition works best." Right... I mean, a certain very strategic kind of competition. Co-opetition? Direct competition would be simply offering a competing fully in-house browser or competing fully in-house mobile OS. This is kind of sneaky in that it lets Google do a lot of the heavy lifting, while still being able to yank the things (or add the things) that Microsoft wants. With regard to Edge adopting Chromium, I have to wonder whether Google sees this as a victory, or if they feel like Microsoft pulled one over on them.