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Microsoft has kicked off its annual Build developer conference in Seattle with a preview of its upcoming Edge web browser for Mac.

microsoft-edge-macos-preview-800x446.jpg

In a blog post detailing new features coming to Edge, which is being rebuilt with the same open source Chromium rendering engine as used by Google Chrome, Microsoft provided a sneak peek at how the browser will look on macOS. While only a brief glimpse, the browser looks somewhat similar to Chrome.


Microsoft shipped its first preview builds of its revamped Edge browser for Windows last month, but the browser remains listed as "coming soon" for macOS. The Verge believes the Mac version will be available "very soon," likely including both the Canary and Dev channel builds as on Windows.

Edge will be Microsoft's first web browser on the Mac since Internet Explorer received its last feature update nearly 16 years ago. Internet Explorer was the default web browser on the Mac between 1998 and 2003, when Apple released Safari on Mac OS X Panther, which has been the default ever since.

Edge succeeded Internet Explorer as the default web browser on Windows in 2015 and is also available for iOS and Android.

Update: According to a post shared on reddit, a canary version of Microsoft's Edge browser is now available for download. [Direct Download Link]

Article Link: Microsoft Provides Sneak Peek of Edge on Mac, 16 Years After Safari Replaced Internet Explorer [Update: Now Available]
 
In my industry there are still dinosaur companies who only develop for Internet Explorer and not Chrome and Safari. So this would be welcome, although not solving the problem of the short sighted dinosaur developers.

This browser (and really any Microsoft browser on Mac OS in history) has had little to do with Windows IE other than the icon being similar.

A better browser built on Chromium open source:

https://brave.com/index/

Doesn't Brave inject it's own ads into your web browsing?
 
Basically WebKit wins the browser war for good, with the default browsers for the major platforms (Mac, Windows, Android, and iOS) are all WebKit.
Wonder how the Firefox people would feel.
 
The dev beta on Windows 10 is really fast. Better than Chrome.

I'm sure Safari will remain superior on Mac, but nice they're making it available across various platforms.
 
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the browser looks somewhat similar to Chrome.
This is a good thing. I typically have IE, Chrome, and Firefox open at any given time. I hate playing the "where's the refresh button" game. They move too many basic features around between each browser.
 
Semi-tangential observation: I think it's somewhat sloppy that the dock in the macOS screenshot above includes Microsoft Office apps that do not have the most up-to-date icons. You would think that a video coming from Microsoft itself would highlight the newest versions of its own flagship products.

That screenshot serves as a great "nutshell" reminder of some of the fundamental differences between Apple and Microsoft.
 
This just reminds me of the browser war with Netscape. Would love to see an all-out war now between FireFox, Safari, Edge & Chrome.
Won’t happen. Chromium/Chrome is the new Netscape, the new IE. It’ll be dominant until it can finally be overtaken by something else. Firefox is likely worried as they get more and more marginalized.
 
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But ... why? I can't imagine what this browser can do that Safari or Chrome can't ... and I'm not sure who the user base is.

It syncs with OneDrive, runs the Chromium engine, and doesn't come with Google's telemetry.

I think they're releasing a Mac version just because Chromium is cross platform and it isn't hard for them to do it. I doubt they expect too many people to actually use it. I wouldn't be surprised if a Linux version follows shortly behind.
 
In my industry there are still dinosaur companies who only develop for Internet Explorer and not Chrome and Safari. So this would be welcome, although not solving the problem of the short sighted dinosaur developers.

We just rolled out a newer sections of our internal website that doesn't rely on Silverlight for certain functions. Even then, there are still functions that run better on IE instead of Chrome. We dropped a DOS program for some functions our purchasing and accounting department needed just about four years ago. Some of our tracking spreadsheets were made in Lotus 1-2-3 and a handful of people still use it. We in IT try to push them to move faster getting rid of some of the old ways of thinking, but whatever. Their money.
 
What makes this relevant is that it is Chromium. Which means if you like something UI related about Edge, you can choose to use it instead of Chrome and not have a terribly different experience.
 
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This browser (and really any Microsoft browser on Mac OS in history) has had little to do with Windows IE other than the icon being similar.



Doesn't Brave inject it's own ads into your web browsing?

Ads for Brave? Not that I can recall. It’s been my default browser on Mac and iOS for a long time now (maybe 2+ years?) and the ad-blocking is very good. I don’t think you can find better built-in ad-blocking on iOS. No extensions required.
 
If people really cared Edge would have been a lot more popular today.
Agreed, the general population clearly doesn't mind Google's data hegemony. But I think some do view Microsoft as a more trustworthy company than Google. Those few people who care might prefer Edge. That said, while I generally view Microsoft as more privacy-oriented than Google, I view Apple as even more so and thus would not move to Edge from Safari.

(Relatedly, my general view on third-party apps is that unless there is a compelling "industry standard" case - as there is with Microsoft Word, for example - I would always rather use an Apple default app. By virtue of buying a Mac, iPhone, iPad, etc. I paid a serious premium to be able to [legitimately] use Apple's apps! ;))
 
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