Microsoft Edge Chromium now available for macOS

AppleInsider · January 15, 2020 5:51PM

Anyone interested in trying Microsoft's redesigned Edge Chromium browser can now download and use the first release version.

Edge Chromium is rebuilt with Google's Chromium, the open-source browser engine that powers main rival Google Chrome. The change will, in theory, make it easier for developers to produce extensions for the browser, as well as making for a more standardized web experience for users and web developers, with websites loading with a similar appearance to Google's own browser.

Under the new version of Edge, Microsoft will include a new tracking prevention default where it is turned on from the start. The SmartScreen and Tracking Prevention mechanisms aim to protect against phishing schemes, malware, and other malicious software, while an InPrivate mode will stop web searches from being attributable to the user, somewhat similar to Chrome's Incognito mode.

At launch, history sync and extension sync won't be available, which could be a deal breaker for some users. These features are a large reason why many users choose Google's Chrome in the first place. Microsoft has stated that both history and extension sync will be available later in 2020.

A Collections feature, which is listed as "coming soon," can be used to collect web content for research purposes, which can then be exported into Word or Excel for further analysis.

While many established users are likely to continue using their browser of choice, Microsoft Edge Chromium does serve a purpose. Enterprise users will be able to utilize Chromium's built in "Internet Explorer" mode, which will allow businesses and agencies to load legacy Internet Explorer content.

While it targets enterprise users, the newly released browser is available for anyone download now from Microsoft directly, on both macOS and Windows. Chromium's enhanced privacy features and support for 4K Ultra HD Netflix with Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision, currently for Windows 10 only, has not been replicated on Google Chrome yet.

mplsp · January 15, 2020 6:06PM

The real question is how do the privacy features and tracking prevention compare to Safari? I use Safari windows as my default browser the majority of the time, but there are some sites that don’t play nice with private windows and others that require Internet Explorer or Chrome (don’t ask me why a site is requiring a deprecated browser) Even though it’s built on chromium I’d rather have MS Edge than Google Chrome

saarek · January 15, 2020 6:07PM

Interesting, some of my companies web portals and services were all designed around IE5 and don’t work on my Mac.

I wonder if this Internet Explorer mode will fix the issue for me...... off to download I go.

mobird · January 15, 2020 6:31PM

while an InPrivate mode will stop web searches from being attributable to the user, somewhat similar to Chrome's Incognito mode.

"InPrivate / Incognito" = Duckduckgo.com?

razorpit · January 15, 2020 6:52PM

Too bad its not available in the App Store.

lkrupp · January 15, 2020 6:58PM

saarek said:

Interesting, some of my companies web portals and services were all designed around IE5 and don’t work on my Mac.

I wonder if this Internet Explorer mode will fix the issue for me...... off to download I go.

Wow, your company is literally living in the Jurassic Period when it comes to their IT.

mpantone · January 15, 2020 6:59PM

MplsP said:

The real question is how do the privacy features and tracking prevention compare to Safari? I use Safari windows as my default browser the majority of the time, but there are some sites that don’t play nice with private windows and others that require Internet Explorer or Chrome (don’t ask me why a site is requiring a deprecated browser) Even though it’s built on chromium I’d rather have MS Edge than Google Chrome

The sensible stance would be to assume that the new Microsoft Edge browser doesn't do anything more than Google Chrome to block ads, tracking cookies, malicious scripts, etc.

It still is advisable to install an ad blocker -- not for ad blocking purposes -- but for security reasons.

It is also probably safer to assume that Microsoft Edge will phone home and transmit user activity to Microsoft.

There are other options. I don't use Brave because I don't trust Brandon Eich plus the fact that Brave Software is trying to monetize "safe" ads.

There are ungoogled versions of the Chromium web browser. Those are certainly worth considering as is heavy use of incognito mode for casual browsing.

But that's just me...

fatman · January 15, 2020 7:21PM

First Microsoft gives up on their own mobile platform, now on their own browser.

mplsp · January 15, 2020 7:37PM

lkrupp said:

saarek said:

Interesting, some of my companies web portals and services were all designed around IE5 and don’t work on my Mac.

I wonder if this Internet Explorer mode will fix the issue for me...... off to download I go.

Wow, your company is literally living in the Jurassic Period when it comes to their IT.

THat was my thought - the last official version of IE was v11 released in 2013 and IE5 was first released in 1999 - 21 years ago!mobird said:

while an InPrivate mode will stop web searches from being attributable to the user, somewhat similar to Chrome's Incognito mode.

"InPrivate / Incognito" = Duckduckgo.com?

Sort of. There’s tracking that the search engine does, but ads and web sites can also mine cookie data. Private browsing windows in safari sandbox each browsing session so none of the cookies/browsing info is retained or available between windows. I dont’ know exactly what chrome or FireFox do - It would be interesting to see a direct comparison of the privacy features for both regular and private browsing windows of the various browsers.

mtlion2020 · January 15, 2020 8:21PM

i love it, much faster responsive on my  macBook air 2010 than safari!
synced all bookmarks and the screen is much clearer!
Yippie!

wgkrueger · January 15, 2020 9:55PM

lkrupp said:

saarek said:

Interesting, some of my companies web portals and services were all designed around IE5 and don’t work on my Mac.

I wonder if this Internet Explorer mode will fix the issue for me...... off to download I go.

Wow, your company is literally living in the Jurassic Period when it comes to their IT.

They use the “Write once, fire the developers” IT model.

dewme · January 15, 2020 10:26PM

As far as browser performance goes, the main contributors to sluggishness and pages that are slow to load or not load at all, for my computers and devices at least, are content blockers and ad filters.

Whenever I try a new browser my first impression is usually that it’s faster than Safari. But then I start opening up some of favorite sites and (cough cough cough) I’m overwhelmed by the collage of ads surrounding the content and embedded in the articles. If I turn off all the filters and blockers in Safari, suddenly it is just as fast or faster than the new browser.

The reality is that Safari is no slouch when it comes to performance. If you come across a browser that seems significantly faster than Safari, chances are that it’s not delivering the same level of functionality that Safari is providing.

It’s 2020 after all, so I just can’t imagine anyone getting even mildly excited about a new web browser. There’s no money to be made by trying to one-up the competition in an app category that’s as exciting as Wonder Bread or Microsoft Notepad. However, it absolutely makes sense for Microsoft to adopt browser technology from another vendor to prevent their own development team from consuming too many cycles on an app that has so little differentiated value. It’s not even cash cow worthy, it’s more like dead cow and frozen hamburger. Check the box and move on.

macpro · January 16, 2020 1:56PM

I'be been using mac OS Edge Dev version for a some time now, it's the only way I can see 4K video on YouTube as Safari doesn't support it. I refuse to use Chrome so I have become semi-Microsoft friendly after all these years. Actually I enjoy using Windows 10 Pro to be honest, I use it to run a bunch of MySQL servers remotely from my Macs.

macpro · January 16, 2020 2:00PM

razorpit said:

Too bad its not available in the App Store.

Safari threw a wobbly - repeat post

edited January 2020

dewme · January 16, 2020 3:15PM

MacPro said:

I'be been using mac OS Edge Dev version for a some time now, it's the only way I can see 4K video on YouTube as Safari doesn't support it. I refuse to use Chrome so I have become semi-Microsoft friendly after all these years. Actually I enjoy using Windows 10 Pro to be honest, I use it to run a bunch of MySQL servers remotely from my Macs.

I’ve always kept one foot in both camps, especially since the Microsoft side of things pays the bills. I don’t mind Windows 10 Pro, it’s okay at most things and I like the dev tools available on Windows. One thing that Windows 10 Pro does in a way that absolutely shames Apple to its core is Remote Desktop. The RDP protocol is seriously kickass fast so accessing Windows Pro machines from anything, even underpowered netbooks running Linux, Raspberry Pi machines, and older iOS devices is always fast despite having a slow client. The fact that it’s free is icing on the cake.

I’m sure there are some use cases where macOS Edge will be beneficial but hearing about a new browser hitting the streets reminds me of Steve Martin’s “The new phone books are here! The new phone books are here!” scene from The Jerk movie.

mcdave · January 16, 2020 6:17PM

So what’s the incentive to build/optimise sites and apps for anything but Chromium?
Google just proprietarised the web.

marvin · January 16, 2020 8:02PM

saarek said:

Interesting, some of my companies web portals and services were all designed around IE5 and don’t work on my Mac.

I wonder if this Internet Explorer mode will fix the issue for me...... off to download I go.

IE mode isn't in the Mac version, that's a way of running IE inside a tab in Edge. IE wasn't ported to the Mac.

This is probably for the best because while it means things like Virtual machines are still needed to test IE on Mac, it discourages people from supporting IE. Microsoft should uninstall all versions of IE from Windows computers and only leave Edge with its IE mode so that people don't browse sites using IE.

Microsoft Edge Chromium now available for macOS

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