3 ms·

Google killed the Edge browser with the same tricks MS used. The use money and Google Play services to hinder competition. Not really less anti-competitive.

by croes 2y ago

skybrian 2y ago
By one measure, Edge has 5% market share, twice that of Firefox. On Desktop it’s 13%, which is second place. https://gs.statcounter.com/browser-market-share/desktop/worldwide https://gs.statcounter.com/browser-market-share/desktop/worl...
- fc417fc802 2y ago
  Does that chart differentiate between before and after edge internals became chromium though?
  - skybrian 2y ago
    Does it matter? It seems like distribution is more important than the internals.
    - fc417fc802 2y ago
      When people say that Google killed the Edge browser they generally mean that MS gave up on maintaining their own browser engine and the world moved that much closer to a web monoculture. To put this in historical perspective, a reskinned IE would not have been a meaningful or useful competitor to IE.
      - skybrian 2y ago
        I don’t think it’s a meaningful comparison because Microsoft has the resources to fork Chromium if they need to. But since it works pretty well, there’s little incentive to do that. It would be like Electron forking V8 for no reason.
- const_cast 2y ago
  Corporate is a huge, huge part of this. Lots of people working just use whatever browser is preloaded. In addition, you can't even download another browser in a lot of environments.
BuyMyBitcoins 2y ago
Anecdotal, but I wanted to give Edge a chance. I found out that it is quite possibly the most feature-creep rich browser on the market. Its sole purpose seems to be “let Microsoft monitor your entire browsing experience”. I also feel like Microsoft’s heavy handed dark patterns trick less computer savvy people into using it, and those people probably aren’t aware of how much info Microsoft is collecting about them. As a result, I seriously question that Edge’s market share is organic because people actually like it.
- stogot 2y ago
  Chrome has become that for google.
  - selfhoster 1y ago
    If you believe that, you are mistaken. If you're making the assertion on false pretenses, then it is tantamount to trolling.
sofixa 2y ago
Google didn't kill the Edge browser, Microsoft gave up. If Mozilla can have an independent from scratch browser, Microsoft of all companies could have one too. It's just easier and cheaper for them to rebrand Chromium and call it a day. And I'm not buying the argument that progress on the Web (tech stack) should stop so that it's easier to make/maintain a browser.
- hollerith 2y ago
  Some of us would have preferred for "progress" on the web stack to have stopped about 20 years ago.
  - ewoodrich 2y ago
    I grew up in the dial-up era but personally think it's incredibly cool how I am able to use a full featured IDE, flash an ESP-32 or my phone via USB, make low latency Zoom/Teams calls with screen sharing, run language agnostic bytecode and utilize low level GPU access, all in a highly secure sandbox on my Macbook, Linux/Windows Thinkpad, $100 Chromebook, tablet and phone.

Google killed the Edge browser with the same tricks MS used. The use money and Google Play services to hinder competition. Not really less anti-competitive.

by croes 2y ago

Google killed the Edge browser with the same tricks MS used. The use money and Google Play services to hinder competition. Not really less anti-competitive.

skybrian 2y ago

By one measure, Edge has 5% market share, twice that of Firefox. On Desktop it’s 13%, which is second place. https://gs.statcounter.com/browser-market-share/desktop/worldwide https://gs.statcounter.com/browser-market-share/desktop/worl...

fc417fc802 2y ago
Does that chart differentiate between before and after edge internals became chromium though?
- skybrian 2y ago
  Does it matter? It seems like distribution is more important than the internals.
  - fc417fc802 2y ago
    When people say that Google killed the Edge browser they generally mean that MS gave up on maintaining their own browser engine and the world moved that much closer to a web monoculture. To put this in historical perspective, a reskinned IE would not have been a meaningful or useful competitor to IE.
    - skybrian 2y ago
      I don’t think it’s a meaningful comparison because Microsoft has the resources to fork Chromium if they need to. But since it works pretty well, there’s little incentive to do that. It would be like Electron forking V8 for no reason.
const_cast 2y ago
Corporate is a huge, huge part of this. Lots of people working just use whatever browser is preloaded. In addition, you can't even download another browser in a lot of environments.

BuyMyBitcoins 2y ago

Anecdotal, but I wanted to give Edge a chance. I found out that it is quite possibly the most feature-creep rich browser on the market. Its sole purpose seems to be “let Microsoft monitor your entire browsing experience”. I also feel like Microsoft’s heavy handed dark patterns trick less computer savvy people into using it, and those people probably aren’t aware of how much info Microsoft is collecting about them. As a result, I seriously question that Edge’s market share is organic because people actually like it.

stogot 2y ago
Chrome has become that for google.
- selfhoster 1y ago
  If you believe that, you are mistaken. If you're making the assertion on false pretenses, then it is tantamount to trolling.

sofixa 2y ago

Google didn't kill the Edge browser, Microsoft gave up. If Mozilla can have an independent from scratch browser, Microsoft of all companies could have one too. It's just easier and cheaper for them to rebrand Chromium and call it a day. And I'm not buying the argument that progress on the Web (tech stack) should stop so that it's easier to make/maintain a browser.

hollerith 2y ago
Some of us would have preferred for "progress" on the web stack to have stopped about 20 years ago.
- ewoodrich 2y ago
  I grew up in the dial-up era but personally think it's incredibly cool how I am able to use a full featured IDE, flash an ESP-32 or my phone via USB, make low latency Zoom/Teams calls with screen sharing, run language agnostic bytecode and utilize low level GPU access, all in a highly secure sandbox on my Macbook, Linux/Windows Thinkpad, $100 Chromebook, tablet and phone.