Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Microsoft's Chromium Edge Browser for Mac Officially Launches

BobHyatt said:
You seriously don't think Microsoft tracks anything? :) just see the reports on Windows 10. This will be no different.
Click to expand...

Well I mean, tracking you is pretty much Google’s business model. Microsoft is far less creepy - this is just their Chrome-based browser, it’s not like it can hook into Mac OS X like it can into Windows 10.

I agree with you that Microsoft is no Apple when it comes to privacy though!
 
  • Like
Reactions: orbital~debris, kc2kth and lostczech
StuBeck said:
Not really. Just because they are using an open source engine made by Google, their consumer privacy is on a very different level than Googles.
Click to expand...

I agree, Microsoft is simply following the lead of a lot of other browsers in leveraging the Chromium engine for their browser. They still need to build the other features around it, but this is far simpler than fixing their HTMLEdge engine or whatever it was called when Edge launched.
 
  • Like
Reactions: DeepIn2U
I’ve been using this for a bit and am pleased with its performance compared to Safari on my old mid-2010 MBP. My main reason for switching was because of how ad blocking seemed to be broken in Safari now.
 
  • Like
Reactions: DeepIn2U, nvmls and canesalato
NickName99 said:
Well I mean, tracking you is pretty much Google’s business model. Microsoft is far less creepy - this is just their Chrome-based browser, it’s not like it can hook into Mac OS X like it can into Windows 10.

I agree with you that Microsoft is no Apple when it comes to privacy though!
Click to expand...

I'm in one of those phases where I'm questioning why I continue to use so much Google tech considering I know their only goal is to target advertising and generate revenue. I do this probably once every year or two. Move away from Google (typing this in Firefox), then move back to Google because life is easier. Endless cycle.
 
  • Haha
  • Like
Reactions: orbital~debris, B60boy, Atlantico and 1 other person
Nice... But I'll stay with Firefox, it's by far the better browser IMO. Features like Container Tabs are unparalleled for privacy, and at the same time offering the ability to log into multiple O365 tenants at the same time which is handy in work. Of course I block all the adds and trackers I can.

I don't see why this would be better than Firefox, especially with my cross-platform use (macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS and Android). There's so many Chrome forks around already such as Brave which was already mentioned. Not saying Edge or Microsoft are bad but I just don't see the advantage in my usecase. I have no issues with the FF engine.

The only plus I see if you have a lot tied into the Microsoft ecosystem and you want to sync your browser stuff there too.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: rbgaynor
This:
NickName99 said:
Even just scrolling on sites is visibly smoother on Safari.
Click to expand...

Both Safari and Firefox scroll noticeably smoother than Chrome and Edge. Just go to the main MacRumors page and grab the scroll bar on the right hand side of the browser and drag up and down.

I must say I do like the contextual menu in Edge, though. Unlike Firefox (which I use as my main brower at the moment) on gets a good looking menu that honors dark mode. :)
 
NickName99 said:
I totally agree with your point about the benefit of Chrome without the sketchiness of Google, I made pretty much the same point.

What was disappointing about Safari for you though? In my experience Safari has the best performance and the best efficiency (higher on benchmarks + easier on battery life). Even just scrolling on sites is visibly smoother on Safari.

Safari also integrates perfectly with iCloud KeyChain and bookmark sync, and I can hand off web pages between my iPhone and my MacBook Pro pretty effortlessly too. 3rd party browsers miss out on that nice iOS integration.
Click to expand...

Safari has all the nice OS integrations for sure - no denying that. But as a stand-alone browser, it's been left behind in everything but the rendering engine. It looks incredibly out dated for a start - this was my biggest surprise coming into macOS with no knowledge of it outside of iPhones and Apple Watches. Finder and Safari look like products from a decade ago. These beautiful Music apps and things, and Finder is sitting there with the "back in my day..." face on it. It's weird. (Although Finder does have some nice features, as does Safari).

The Safari extension support is poor, and the available extensions are generally not as good as Chromes. Since Brave and Edge are built on the Chromium engine, they've inherited all these amazing extensions too. Because of this, the customisation is pretty poor compared to other browsers.

The biggest UX failure is the tabs. Tabs which must always take 100% of the width, making it more movement to switch between them with a mouse. The lack of icons in the Bookmarks toolbar, making it harder to identify at a glance. And despite being wider, the tabs aren't as tall, making them easier to miss. It's just a UX nightmare compared to the other browsers.

Developer tools, Edge and Firefox are moving the bar on those. Edge is adding custom development tools (3D DOM) and integrations with Visual Studio Code. Firefox CSS Grid viewer is *amazing*. Safari is sitting with the bog standard webkit tools. It's a bit meh. I check my sites work in Safari, but I never use it for development. Edge and Firefox win there.

I got around the password syncing by using LastPass and 1Password. All other browsers bookmark sync to iPhone apps (Chrome, Brave, Firefox and Edge all do this - Brave does it without an account, which is cool).

Chrome is great but creepy
Edge is better because it's Chrome but less creepy
Brave is even better because it's Chrome with zero creepy
Safari is...also here.
 
  • Like
Reactions: jbachandouris
kc2kth said:
I'm in one of those phases where I'm questioning why I continue to use so much Google tech considering I know their only goal is to target advertising and generate revenue. I do this probably once every year or two. Move away from Google (typing this in Firefox), then move back to Google because life is easier. Endless cycle.
Click to expand...

2020, this is the year I move away from Google completely! Replacing my secondary browser of Chrome with Edge will be an easy step one. Most time consuming will be transitioning away from my gmail address. Using DuckDuckGo has been going ok I guess - I am not sure if it's worse, or just something to get used to after a decade+ of using google.
 
  • Haha
  • Like
Reactions: B60boy and jbachandouris
decisions said:
I never understand why people keep bringing up this quote. Steve's point was that you shouldn't need a stylus for a phone. He was right. Having one for a tablet, for all we know, made perfect sense to him and was something he envisioned down the line as the accuracy of iPad touchscreens improved down the line.
Click to expand...

Read the post I quoted for context. I brought up this quote because in this case it is irrelevant - just as the Linus quote is. It's based on a different product, in a different time. The Linus quote has no relevance to modern Microsoft, and this Edge browser is absolutely nothing like the products that Linus referred to, or what we think of when we think of Microsoft products - especially web browsers.

Basically, Microsoft has absolutely turned a corner. Applications like this and Visual Studio Code, and the open sourcing of other projects shows this. We, as Apple fans, should welcome this because the competition is good for Apple. This is a massive step forward for Microsoft, after years of stagnation.
 
  • Like
Reactions: TheDemogordon and cjgrif
Kyle4 said:
I’ve been using this for a bit and am pleased with its performance compared to Safari on my old mid-2010 MBP. My main reason for switching was because of how ad blocking seemed to be broken in Safari now.
Click to expand...
Try 1Blocker, I use it both for my iPhone and Mac, works great.
 
  • Like
Reactions: TheDailyApple and 480951
Akrapovic said:
Just FYI, this uses Webkit. Same rendering engine as Safari. And it's based on Chromium, which is what Chrome and Brave are built on. It's also open source. So if you're worried about hacking and security issues then you're in for a surprise with the products you currently use.

The Linus quote is so long ago it pre-dates a few CEO changes. Steve Jobs also said that if you see a stylus they blew it. But we don't whip that one out on Apple forums. Almost like circumstances change.
Click to expand...

Edge Chromium, just like browsers such as Brave are based on The Chromium Project. They are using Blink, not Webkit as their engine. Blink is a fork of WebCore which was a component of WebKit. Google forked WebCore back in 2013 and started developing and using Blink so it's a long time since it was the same code as WebCore that was a part of WebKit.

Sure they have a lot of similarities still. But they are hardly the same anymore.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Akrapovic
makr said:
Try 1Blocker, I use it both for my iPhone and Mac, works great.
Click to expand...

This is a solid suggestion, and I actually purchased and use this app for Safari on iOS. Unfortunately (at the time) it wanted me to buy it again for Mac so I waited and now the new version isn’t compatible with High Sierra.
 
  • Like
Reactions: makr
RamGuy said:
Edge Chromium, just like browsers such as Brave are based on The Chromium Project. They are using Blink, not Webkit as their engine. Blink is a fork of WebCore which was a component of WebKit. Google forked WebCore back in 2013 and started developing and using Blink so it's a long time since it was the same code as WebCore that was a part of WebKit.

Sure they have a lot of similarities still. But they are hardly the same anymore.
Click to expand...

Fair points, well made. I really don't think saying that hacking and security issues are a concern with Edge is fair, but they are based on different engines now. As you say, they started as the same thing though.

I don't think it's unfair to suggest that Chromium based browsers are far more progressive than Safari. The webkit project really took off when Google got behind it.
 
Personally, I've been using Brave Browser on my 2013 11" MB i5 with 4GB RAM because Safari would eventually use up too many resources and bog down. MS's Chromium-based Edge is worth looking at (it would have been better if done a couple of years ago), but I've been happy with Brave so far.
 
  • Like
Reactions: orbital~debris
I have been using Edge Chromium over Google Chrome for a while now on PC/Windows and on my Mac's for cross-platform purposes. I much prefer it over Chrome as it's not the same battery and memory hog like Chrome.

But it's baffling to me that Microsoft is releasing Edge Chromium without essential features such as synchronisation of history, tabs, extensions and extension settings. It feels rather half-baked without these features which we have come to expect from other Chromium browsers such as Google Chrome.

I normally use Apple Safari on my Mac's as it's so much more efficient in-terms of system resources and battery. But sometimes I simply need better synchronisation between my browser on PC/Windows and Mac and then I have to use something else. I replaced Chrome with Edge Chromium as it's better on resources and battery, but I had really hoped and was really expecting that the synchronisation features would actually be fully implemented before it's official release.

Seems really stupid to me that Microsoft decide to fully release it before expected functionality is fully implemented. They don't even offer a release schedule saying when these features are to be expected. They are still nowhere to be seen in either the BETA, Developer or Canary Channel so it doesn't seem to be coming anytime soon.


What's even more funny is adding Edge Chromium Stable on my Windows Server 2019 installation. You cannot login with your Microsoft Account on Windows Servers as the required services for communicating with private Microsoft Accounts doesn't exists on Windows Server. It does let you login with a Office 365 / Azure account, but the browser does not support any sort of synchronisation using Office 365 / Azure accounts. Like come on now, what are you doing Microsoft? Are you for real? Why do you claim it's supported on Windows Server when stuff like this doesn't work?
 
  • Like
Reactions: killawat
NickName99 said:
What was disappointing about Safari for you though? In my experience Safari has the best performance and the best efficiency (higher on benchmarks + easier on battery life). Even just scrolling on sites is visibly smoother on Safari.
Click to expand...

lack of 4K video on YouTube is a big one for me
 
  • Like
Reactions: Galve2000
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back