3 ms·

> But all of these show that Microsoft Edge is now a fully-featured alternative to Google Chrome Given that it uses Chrome's engine, Edge isn't an alternative

by lolc 7y ago

> But all of these show that Microsoft Edge is now a fully-featured alternative to Google Chrome Given that it uses Chrome's engine, Edge isn't an alternative to Chrome. It's just an alternative version of Chrome. Sure, from a user perspective, it's an alternative. From a dev perspective, it adds to the dominance of Chrome.

err4nt 7y ago
From a dev perspective it also loosens Google's grip on Chromium, the #1 rendering engine :D Having Microsoft collaborate and diversify that project is a major win for all of us. I am hoping/wishing that Mozilla will drop gecko development and repackage WebKit - it would be great for them to join forces and pool resources with the #2 engine!
- timw4mail 7y ago
  No, absolutely not.
- alunchbox 7y ago
  It's not just a drop in replacement and since Firefox quantum the rending engine has felt butter smooth. Overall Firefox personally 'feels' faster than Chrome, just a personal view but I do love Chrome's developer tools. Not sure if there's a way to improve Firefox's developers tools to bring it in line with a similar experience.
  - jjoonathan 7y ago
    It's such a shame that failing to test on Firefox became acceptable in dev communities right around the time that Quantum happened and Firefox got back into the fight. Just a year of acceleration on Quantum's timeline, or a year of slippage in Chrome's, could have made such a difference.
- Yizahi 7y ago
  There is no such thing as Chromium, it is just a Chrome-lite. Nobody took Chromium and made a separate browser with a separate code from what Google pushes in the trunk. All others do is just add or remove whatever Google allows them, while accepting all serious commits coming down from Chrome. Webkit on the other hand had produced truly different engines - Chromium and Safari, developed differently and making different decisions. If Mozilla with switch to Chrome engine it will be yet another Chrome with mods.
  - judge2020 7y ago
    That's only because all of these alternatives want to benefit from the free labor Google is putting into Chrome. If Microsoft wanted to, they could actually fork the entire project but then they would need to divert a lot of manpower to the effort.
- lolc 7y ago
  I think that would be a precarious situation for Mozilla. Not to say the current situation is a good one. So I'm sure they're weighing this. But let's assume they switch to Webkit. In itself that is a huge investment. Then either they track whatever Google wants to do with Webkit, or they fork. But once they fork, they're pretty much on their own again. So there was no gain. To profit from Google's dev, they have to track whatever Google does, and maintain patches for their own things that Google doesn't want to merge. In some important ways, they'd be dependent on Google. Their direct competitor.
  - err4nt 7y ago
    Mozilla is kept alive by Google funding, without Google Mozilla simply wouldn't even exist right now to be building anything. They are direct collaborators, not enemies.
    - lolc 7y ago
      True, I forgot about that part.
sys_64738 7y ago
M$ Edge will dilute the Chrome brand to the extent that corps will simply use Edge instead. Eventually Edge become the defacto 'Chrome' browser to the extent that everybody refers to Chrome as Edge. M$ is very clever.
- jsjddbbwj 7y ago
  Go back to Slashdot with your "M$" bullshit
  - jjoonathan 7y ago
    This kind of evil cleverness evokes the Slashdot-era Microsoft. It seems appropriate to resurrect the nicknames. Bill-Bashing can stay buried now that he has moved on to charity, though.

by lolc 7y ago

err4nt 7y ago

From a dev perspective it also loosens Google's grip on Chromium, the #1 rendering engine :D Having Microsoft collaborate and diversify that project is a major win for all of us. I am hoping/wishing that Mozilla will drop gecko development and repackage WebKit - it would be great for them to join forces and pool resources with the #2 engine!

timw4mail 7y ago
No, absolutely not.
alunchbox 7y ago
It's not just a drop in replacement and since Firefox quantum the rending engine has felt butter smooth. Overall Firefox personally 'feels' faster than Chrome, just a personal view but I do love Chrome's developer tools. Not sure if there's a way to improve Firefox's developers tools to bring it in line with a similar experience.
- jjoonathan 7y ago
  It's such a shame that failing to test on Firefox became acceptable in dev communities right around the time that Quantum happened and Firefox got back into the fight. Just a year of acceleration on Quantum's timeline, or a year of slippage in Chrome's, could have made such a difference.
Yizahi 7y ago
There is no such thing as Chromium, it is just a Chrome-lite. Nobody took Chromium and made a separate browser with a separate code from what Google pushes in the trunk. All others do is just add or remove whatever Google allows them, while accepting all serious commits coming down from Chrome. Webkit on the other hand had produced truly different engines - Chromium and Safari, developed differently and making different decisions. If Mozilla with switch to Chrome engine it will be yet another Chrome with mods.
- judge2020 7y ago
  That's only because all of these alternatives want to benefit from the free labor Google is putting into Chrome. If Microsoft wanted to, they could actually fork the entire project but then they would need to divert a lot of manpower to the effort.
lolc 7y ago
I think that would be a precarious situation for Mozilla. Not to say the current situation is a good one. So I'm sure they're weighing this. But let's assume they switch to Webkit. In itself that is a huge investment. Then either they track whatever Google wants to do with Webkit, or they fork. But once they fork, they're pretty much on their own again. So there was no gain. To profit from Google's dev, they have to track whatever Google does, and maintain patches for their own things that Google doesn't want to merge. In some important ways, they'd be dependent on Google. Their direct competitor.
- err4nt 7y ago
  Mozilla is kept alive by Google funding, without Google Mozilla simply wouldn't even exist right now to be building anything. They are direct collaborators, not enemies.
  - lolc 7y ago
    True, I forgot about that part.

sys_64738 7y ago

M$ Edge will dilute the Chrome brand to the extent that corps will simply use Edge instead. Eventually Edge become the defacto 'Chrome' browser to the extent that everybody refers to Chrome as Edge. M$ is very clever.

jsjddbbwj 7y ago
Go back to Slashdot with your "M$" bullshit
- jjoonathan 7y ago
  This kind of evil cleverness evokes the Slashdot-era Microsoft. It seems appropriate to resurrect the nicknames. Bill-Bashing can stay buried now that he has moved on to charity, though.