7 ms·

Microsoft Edge dev preview for Linux

51 points by kylealden 6y ago

k__ 6y ago
Wasn't there a post hear some time ago, arguing that MS won't wind down Windows and going full in on Linux? My guess is, OS money is over and MS wants to safe budget in the long run running its money makers on Linux etc.
- AnIdiotOnTheNet 6y ago
  Microsoft makes a pretty good amount of money on Windows licensing, and a whole lot of places run Windows because 1) AD is pretty great, and 2) A lot of software businesses rely on is Windows only. I do not see this changing in the near future. I can't see a strong incentive for companies to switch to Linux even if MS brings AD, GPOs, Office, and its own MS-supported WINE.
  - GekkePrutser 6y ago
    AD is not great. It depends on a legacy model with trusted company networks that was out even before COVID and all the home working hammered the last nail into its coffin. Setting up new systems with it remotely is a real pain, something the EMM model fixes completely.
    - hackerfromthefu 6y ago
      Interested in more detail on this?
      - GekkePrutser 6y ago
        In which way? I work in EMM (though not Windows) and we are rapidly moving to Intune/Azure AD now because of this change. Onboarding new machines has become a nightmare when people can't go to the office. The problem is a catch-22.. We require a 'trusted' machine to connect to the VPN. Yet the VPN is required to connect to AD and bind it, which is the de-facto way it becomes trusted. Before someone in the office would do this but in many cases this hasn't been possible since COVID so it's exposed the issues with this approach. But even before that, working from home has been causing a lot of friction. Everyone is moving to EMM models now, like Google Beyondcorp. MS is pushing Intune now as main management, with 'comanagement' with AD for the time being because it doesn't have the same scope of functionality yet. But it's clear that their long-term plan is to abandon it.
        hackerfromthefu 6y ago
        Thank you now it makes sense to me.
    - AnIdiotOnTheNet 6y ago
      Pretty much all the remote work I'm aware of in my area is done using RDP, so AD is still relevant. I think your opinion may be biased towards smaller and younger companies.
- xen2xen1 6y ago
  They have just decided to sell all their stuffs on all their places, instead of pushing Windows. PCs are losing their place so they've decided not to go down with the ship. But, they have no need to replace Windows, that's still a large bastion of sales for business, and a tremendous lead in for Azure and Office 365. That would only lessen if they moved to something they controlled less.
  - k__ 6y ago
    Wouldn't be surprised if Office will follow Edge.
    - carlhjerpe 6y ago
      I would, it's a very big legacy codebase.
- ThrowawayR2 6y ago
  The browser never brought in revenue for MS directly; it was part of their moat. (Exactly like Google today, now that I think about it.) Windows, both server and desktop, is still raking in billions. There is zero reason for MS to give up on it.
- hakfoo 6y ago
  The problem is that if they offer anything but 1000% bug-compatibility, a Linux-based Windows is just another Windows RT-style penalty box. Yeah, it runs Edge and Office, but none of the closed-source line-of-business software that are baked into people's refined-over-20-years workflow. None of the games with such aggressive and brittle DRM and anti-cheat they break under even official Insider builds. None of the drivers for obscure peripherals that the manufacturer disowned by 2010. You still have a sky-high switching risk. The way out I could imagine would be some sort of packaged virtualization, like the "XP Mode" feature on Windows 7. Your legacy apps spin up in a thin, well-integrated VM which ran a "final" build of classic Win10 designed for minimal disruption. The VMs, in turn, would be aggressively sandboxed and firewalled to keep it tamed. I'd suspect there'd still be some gaps-- drivers for hardware that can't be easily wired to a VM, but I suspect there's a mountain of logistics and performance issues that don't fit in a two-paragraph post.
- pkaye 6y ago
  Most of these decisions are driven by cloud computing where the data servers are primarily running Linux. To get the developer mindshare they have to provide their products on Linux. In the case of Edge, it was to allow testing for browser compatibility on a Linux CI environment. Same thing with WSL an VScode.
llarsson 6y ago
Nice of them to make something so that CI/CD systems can run tests of frontend functionality in Edge without requiring a Windows runner. Because I cannot imagine anyone will use this unironically as their browser on their Linux desktop.
- easton 6y ago
  People who want SSO to work with Azure AD (which Edge, at least on Windows and Mac, has special sauce for), and people who have IT Departments that force them to (for SSO and for the most likely Defender ATP integration that'll come eventually).
- anonunivgrad 6y ago
  Why not? It’s just Chromium.
- mongol 6y ago
  I will. I think it is good with challengers and look forward to try it.
  - wildrhythms 6y ago
    Why use Edge over Chromium on Linux?
    - xen2xen1 6y ago
      Because Edge will sync all my stuff across all devices. I use Linux, and OneNote, and OneDrive and all the above.
    - mongol 6y ago
      Why not? Perhaps it is better. I will try to see.
- xen2xen1 6y ago
  I will absolutely use this unironically on Linux, and I can't wait. Edge has all (most?) of the features of Chrome and isn't tied to Google's services. Somehow the world has twisted to where I trust Microsoft more than Google, even if it's just to not shut their stuff down on a whim. I'm trying to get all my services off Google, and if it weren't for Voice... You ought to unironically try it.
noodlesUK 6y ago
So, is msft edge (chromium) actually open source? How close to the original chromium code base is it? Can I compile a build myself?
- ajayyy 6y ago
  No, it is not open source.
- cbsks 6y ago
  I haven’t downloaded it myself, but here’s the source for it: https://thirdpartysource.microsoft.com/ https://thirdpartysource.microsoft.com/ Filter for “Edge Linux” to get a tar of the source code.
arsenalist 6y ago
I'm on Ubuntu and the sole purpose I'll be using this for is Netflix @ Ultra HD. Still baffles me why is Edge the only browser supporting it.
- KitDuncan 6y ago
  I don't think playready DRM is in the Linux version. If that's the case you'll be limited to 720p there as well.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
twistedpair 6y ago
Anyone find this build very slow? When I click on a page, the repaint is taking 10-20s, or requiring forced window repaint by moving to another desktop and back. I see that this is based on the Chromium `88.0.673.0` build, so I expect it will just be unstable for a bit.
Stierlitz 6y ago
“Microsoft Edge”, don't they mean a re-skinned Google Chromium.

51 points by kylealden 6y ago

k__ 6y ago

Wasn't there a post hear some time ago, arguing that MS won't wind down Windows and going full in on Linux? My guess is, OS money is over and MS wants to safe budget in the long run running its money makers on Linux etc.

AnIdiotOnTheNet 6y ago
Microsoft makes a pretty good amount of money on Windows licensing, and a whole lot of places run Windows because 1) AD is pretty great, and 2) A lot of software businesses rely on is Windows only. I do not see this changing in the near future. I can't see a strong incentive for companies to switch to Linux even if MS brings AD, GPOs, Office, and its own MS-supported WINE.
- GekkePrutser 6y ago
  AD is not great. It depends on a legacy model with trusted company networks that was out even before COVID and all the home working hammered the last nail into its coffin. Setting up new systems with it remotely is a real pain, something the EMM model fixes completely.
  - hackerfromthefu 6y ago
    Interested in more detail on this?
    - GekkePrutser 6y ago
      In which way? I work in EMM (though not Windows) and we are rapidly moving to Intune/Azure AD now because of this change. Onboarding new machines has become a nightmare when people can't go to the office. The problem is a catch-22.. We require a 'trusted' machine to connect to the VPN. Yet the VPN is required to connect to AD and bind it, which is the de-facto way it becomes trusted. Before someone in the office would do this but in many cases this hasn't been possible since COVID so it's exposed the issues with this approach. But even before that, working from home has been causing a lot of friction. Everyone is moving to EMM models now, like Google Beyondcorp. MS is pushing Intune now as main management, with 'comanagement' with AD for the time being because it doesn't have the same scope of functionality yet. But it's clear that their long-term plan is to abandon it.
      - hackerfromthefu 6y ago
        Thank you now it makes sense to me.
  - AnIdiotOnTheNet 6y ago
    Pretty much all the remote work I'm aware of in my area is done using RDP, so AD is still relevant. I think your opinion may be biased towards smaller and younger companies.
xen2xen1 6y ago
They have just decided to sell all their stuffs on all their places, instead of pushing Windows. PCs are losing their place so they've decided not to go down with the ship. But, they have no need to replace Windows, that's still a large bastion of sales for business, and a tremendous lead in for Azure and Office 365. That would only lessen if they moved to something they controlled less.
- k__ 6y ago
  Wouldn't be surprised if Office will follow Edge.
  - carlhjerpe 6y ago
    I would, it's a very big legacy codebase.
ThrowawayR2 6y ago
The browser never brought in revenue for MS directly; it was part of their moat. (Exactly like Google today, now that I think about it.) Windows, both server and desktop, is still raking in billions. There is zero reason for MS to give up on it.
hakfoo 6y ago
The problem is that if they offer anything but 1000% bug-compatibility, a Linux-based Windows is just another Windows RT-style penalty box. Yeah, it runs Edge and Office, but none of the closed-source line-of-business software that are baked into people's refined-over-20-years workflow. None of the games with such aggressive and brittle DRM and anti-cheat they break under even official Insider builds. None of the drivers for obscure peripherals that the manufacturer disowned by 2010. You still have a sky-high switching risk. The way out I could imagine would be some sort of packaged virtualization, like the "XP Mode" feature on Windows 7. Your legacy apps spin up in a thin, well-integrated VM which ran a "final" build of classic Win10 designed for minimal disruption. The VMs, in turn, would be aggressively sandboxed and firewalled to keep it tamed. I'd suspect there'd still be some gaps-- drivers for hardware that can't be easily wired to a VM, but I suspect there's a mountain of logistics and performance issues that don't fit in a two-paragraph post.
pkaye 6y ago
Most of these decisions are driven by cloud computing where the data servers are primarily running Linux. To get the developer mindshare they have to provide their products on Linux. In the case of Edge, it was to allow testing for browser compatibility on a Linux CI environment. Same thing with WSL an VScode.

llarsson 6y ago

Nice of them to make something so that CI/CD systems can run tests of frontend functionality in Edge without requiring a Windows runner. Because I cannot imagine anyone will use this unironically as their browser on their Linux desktop.

easton 6y ago
People who want SSO to work with Azure AD (which Edge, at least on Windows and Mac, has special sauce for), and people who have IT Departments that force them to (for SSO and for the most likely Defender ATP integration that'll come eventually).
anonunivgrad 6y ago
Why not? It’s just Chromium.
mongol 6y ago
I will. I think it is good with challengers and look forward to try it.
- wildrhythms 6y ago
  Why use Edge over Chromium on Linux?
  - xen2xen1 6y ago
    Because Edge will sync all my stuff across all devices. I use Linux, and OneNote, and OneDrive and all the above.
  - mongol 6y ago
    Why not? Perhaps it is better. I will try to see.
xen2xen1 6y ago
I will absolutely use this unironically on Linux, and I can't wait. Edge has all (most?) of the features of Chrome and isn't tied to Google's services. Somehow the world has twisted to where I trust Microsoft more than Google, even if it's just to not shut their stuff down on a whim. I'm trying to get all my services off Google, and if it weren't for Voice... You ought to unironically try it.

noodlesUK 6y ago

So, is msft edge (chromium) actually open source? How close to the original chromium code base is it? Can I compile a build myself?

ajayyy 6y ago
No, it is not open source.
cbsks 6y ago
I haven’t downloaded it myself, but here’s the source for it: https://thirdpartysource.microsoft.com/ https://thirdpartysource.microsoft.com/ Filter for “Edge Linux” to get a tar of the source code.

arsenalist 6y ago

I'm on Ubuntu and the sole purpose I'll be using this for is Netflix @ Ultra HD. Still baffles me why is Edge the only browser supporting it.

KitDuncan 6y ago
I don't think playready DRM is in the Linux version. If that's the case you'll be limited to 720p there as well.

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

twistedpair 6y ago

Anyone find this build very slow? When I click on a page, the repaint is taking 10-20s, or requiring forced window repaint by moving to another desktop and back. I see that this is based on the Chromium `88.0.673.0` build, so I expect it will just be unstable for a bit.

Stierlitz 6y ago

“Microsoft Edge”, don't they mean a re-skinned Google Chromium.