Microsoft Fall 2020 Windows 10 Update will Make the New Edge Browser the Default Option

[AleksandarK]

Microsoft has released its Chromium-based Edge browser some time ago and it is already capturing the market. Just in April of this year, it became the world's second most popular web-browser, just behind Google Chrome. Surpassing even Mozilla's Firefox web-browser, the new Edge is rising in popularity very quickly. So far, Microsoft gave an option for Windows 10 users to just download the new browser if they want to, or the only Edge browser you had would be the old version based on the EdgeHTML engine. Even though Microsoft has recently decided to start rolling out the new Chromium-based browser via OS updates, the old version could still find its way in the OS and there wouldn't be a new one present. Starting with update 20H2, Microsoft is bundling the new browser with OS update, making it a default option in the OS.

While the new browser is going to replace old Edge for default opening of links or some files like PDF, the old Edge will still be present. A lot of legacy applications are relying on opening some of their stuff in the old browser, and there sure would be problems if it would be gone. Additionally, gone are the year plus month names for Windows 10 updates, like 1803, 1903, and 1909. Now you get a year plus the first or second half of the year. For example, the next update is 20H2 (second half of 2020), and the one after it is 21H1 (first half of 2021). This is done to avoid confusion and with this Microsoft announced that updates will be faster in general.


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[zlobby]

Weren't they sued once for a similar sh*tf*ckery?

 

[cucker tarlson]

it's a good browser

 

[theGryphon]

Weren't they sued once for a similar sh*tf*ckery?

That was when they had a huge marketshare in browsers. They've been shipping the EDGEHTML version for years now, nobody bothered.
Personally, I never understood why they got sued for shipping a browser with their OS. They don't get sued for shipping a calculator, or a notepad. It's a piece of software. You can go and download any other replacement for it.

 

[Jism]

That was when they had a huge marketshare in browsers. They've been shipping the EDGEHTML version for years now, nobody bothered.
Personally, I never understood why they got sued for shipping a browser with their OS. They don't get sued for shipping a calculator, or a notepad. It's a piece of software. You can go and download any other replacement for it.

The thing was; it did'nt offer room for any other browser except for IE, which was garbage back in the days. Slow, had it's own standard, you had to hack your way into getting websites "good" for IE etc.

But still; the base of this browser is https://www.chromium.org/

 

[Frick]

That was when they had a huge marketshare in browsers. They've been shipping the EDGEHTML version for years now, nobody bothered.
Personally, I never understood why they got sued for shipping a browser with their OS. They don't get sued for shipping a calculator, or a notepad. It's a piece of software. You can go and download any other replacement for it.

Have fun downloading another browsing without a browser.

 

[theGryphon]

Have fun downloading another browsing without a browser.

This is disingenuous. Obviously you need to use it once to download another. Then, put it aside to never touch it again if you want. Duh.

Actually, your post is shooting itself on the foot. How do you suppose to download your favorite browser if they didn't ship any browser with the OS??

 

[BSim500]

Personally, I never understood why they got sued for shipping a browser with their OS. They don't get sued for shipping a calculator, or a notepad. It's a piece of software. You can go and download any other replacement for it.

They got sued back in the early days not for just shipping a browser but Microsoft's general Embrace, Extend, Extinguish thing and constant "accidentally on purpose" incompatibility related to that. Basically they weren't just shipping a browser, they invented the sheer hell-hole the Internet became when every web developer had to code their site twice over - once for IE6's proprietary markup tags and once for everyone else who actually adhered to HTML standards. In 2004, Apple Inc. (Safari), Mozilla Foundation (Firefox), and Opera Software (Opera browser) formed the Web Hypertext Application Technology Working Group (WHATWG) to create open standards to avoid a conflicting standards mess. Guess which other browser maker refused to join due to "lack of patent policy"?... Then there was the multi-billion dollar out of court settlement between MS and Sun due to omitting the Java Native Interface from the MS Java Virtual Machine which "coincidentally" broke cross-platform compatibility that is the sole reason Java exists in the first place.

The sad truth is web standards have only ever really been stable when Microsoft has its control-freak mitts prised off of them, and no matter how many people like Edge, there's no question that the health of the web as a whole is far better off if we don't return to "80% Edge market share = websites now coded specifically for Edge, oh look they 'accidentally' no longer render properly on Linux, Android and Apple devices" instead of simply being coded for HTML5 / CSS3 without the BS.

 

[FreedomEclipse]

Now all we have to do is wait for sites like Techradar to come out with an article about how Edge has over 80% marketshare while omitting some of the most popular browsers from their data.

 

[Nichotin]

Personally, I never understood why they got sued for shipping a browser with their OS. They don't get sued for shipping a calculator, or a notepad. It's a piece of software. You can go and download any other replacement for it.

I am not a lawyer, but from my understanding monopoly laws are formed so that you are not allowed to use your dominant position in one market (operating systems) to get an unfair advantage in another (web browsers). You don't need to be an absolute monopoly for the rules to cover you.

What separates a web browser from say a calculator or text editor, is that the marketshare of a web browser affects the whole web ecosystem. At the height of IE, other browsers had issues with compatibility. The same would not be the case for a calculator or text editor, thus I don't see vendors of calculators and text editors suing Microsoft any time soon. Especially since the versions Microsoft ships with the OS are fairly basic. It could in theory be problematic if Microsoft were to ship something like VS Code along with Windows, but again, I am not a lawyer.

 

[Decryptor009]

IE 11 is fine.

 

[AsRock]

I always have my go to browser on a flash drive so don't matter to me.

 

[TheLostSwede]

This is going to cause so many problems with people's internet banking. A lot of banks in Asia especially, require IE, as they rely on ActiveX for people to log in. My bank did up until early this year...

Actually, your post is shooting itself on the foot. How do you suppose to download your favorite browser if they didn't ship any browser with the OS??

That's why for the EU, Microsoft had to add a browser installation tool that allows you to select which browser you want through a special app and then it downloaded and installed the browser you selected. So no problem in theory to ship an OS without a browser.
In Linux it's a simple apt-get command.

 

[repman244]

Heh all these theories why they got sued...EU needed some cash from them and that's all.

 

[Turmania]

Altough I hate to admit it, best browser I have used was and still is Safari.

 

[Assimilator]

They got sued back in the early days not for just shipping a browser but Microsoft's general Embrace, Extend, Extinguish thing and constant "accidentally on purpose" incompatibility related to that. Basically they weren't just shipping a browser, they invented the sheer hell-hole the Internet became when every web developer had to code their site twice over - once for IE6's proprietary markup tags and once for everyone else who actually adhered to HTML standards. In 2004, Apple Inc. (Safari), Mozilla Foundation (Firefox), and Opera Software (Opera browser) formed the Web Hypertext Application Technology Working Group (WHATWG) to create open standards to avoid a conflicting standards mess. Guess which other browser maker refused to join due to "lack of patent policy"?... Then there was the multi-billion dollar out of court settlement between MS and Sun due to omitting the Java Native Interface from the MS Java Virtual Machine which "coincidentally" broke cross-platform compatibility that is the sole reason Java exists in the first place.

The sad truth is web standards have only ever really been stable when Microsoft has its control-freak mitts prised off of them, and no matter how many people like Edge, there's no question that the health of the web as a whole is far better off if we don't return to "80% Edge market share = websites now coded specifically for Edge, oh look they 'accidentally' no longer render properly on Linux, Android and Apple devices" instead of simply being coded for HTML5 / CSS3 without the BS.

Instead we now have 80% Google Chrome marketshare.

 

[Decryptor009]

Been using Edge for a while, i like it.

 

[Camm]

About time, sick of having to maintain Edge as a compatibility target. I'm quite happy with Webkit+Gecko.

 

[Vayra86]

This is going to cause so many problems with people's internet banking. A lot of banks in Asia especially, require IE, as they rely on ActiveX for people to log in. My bank did up until early this year...


That's why for the EU, Microsoft had to add a browser installation tool that allows you to select which browser you want through a special app and then it downloaded and installed the browser you selected. So no problem in theory to ship an OS without a browser.
In Linux it's a simple apt-get command.

Maybe those banks need to get the memo then. ActiveX? Seriously? They run that over Windows XP boxes too?

Now watch them migrate to something in a Flash player next

 

[windwhirl]

Instead we now have 80% Google Chrome marketshare.

With the company behind it playing in nearly every internet-based market.

Now watch them migrate to something in a Flash player next

Nah, I think Shockwave is better

 

[TheLostSwede]

Maybe those banks need to get the memo then. ActiveX? Seriously? They run that over Windows XP boxes too?

Now watch them migrate to something in a Flash player next

For a laugh, you should try the "eFiling" software that everyone in Taiwan has to use to file their taxes, unless of course you go to the tax office and have them do it for you, for free. Note that the online version can only be used if you own a Mac or run Linux...

財政部電子申報繳稅服務網

歡迎光臨財政部電子申報繳稅服務網

tax.nat.gov.tw

 

[Vayra86]

For a laugh, you should try the "eFiling" software that everyone in Taiwan has to use to file their taxes, unless of course you go to the tax office and have them do it for you, for free. Note that the online version can only be used if you own a Mac or run Linux...

財政部電子申報繳稅服務網

歡迎光臨財政部電子申報繳稅服務網

tax.nat.gov.tw

Mental. And on Windows you get this nice, did not even pass my company firewall message

With the company behind it playing in nearly every internet-based market.



Nah, I think Shockwave is better

Oh man, so many hours were lost in SFDT...

(this is an age test... )

 

[Chrispy_]

"A lot of legacy applications are relying on opening some of their stuff in the old browser"

I hate this so much.
I hate that once again Edge has forced its way onto all my systems without being asked.
I hate that once again, Edge has hijacked my links, added itself to my start menu, desktop, taskbar, and notification center without my consent.
I hate that once again, for the nth time, I have to confirm that I want to switch anyway and that no - I do not want to check out Edge even though it's "recommended for Windows 10" by a sinister organisation who does not have user interests at heart and just wants to track me and sell my usage habits and browsing preferences.

Where's the class action lawsuit? Sign me up!

 

[VrOtk]

One of the best thing to hear after a 7 hour working day...

 

[windwhirl]

For a laugh, you should try the "eFiling" software that everyone in Taiwan has to use to file their taxes, unless of course you go to the tax office and have them do it for you, for free. Note that the online version can only be used if you own a Mac or run Linux...

Pfft, move over Taiwan, we still use VisualBasic 5.0 here. Sort of. For companies or any kind of non-human legal entity, we have to use this software that is built on VB 5.0, ActiveX and MDAC 1.5 for income tax and the equivalent of wealth tax, but for companies. The monthly invoice report (a report of every detail of every invoice you take into account for VAT or income tax purposes) and VAT (which down here is informed and usually paid monthly) also require similar software if you export/import goods/services or if you are exclusively into agriculture and have registered as annual VAT payer (inform monthly, pay only at the end of the fiscal year). There are other taxes and reports that are prepared with legacy software, but they tend to be more obscure or less common. All of them generate a .b64 file that you upload to the tax office website to complete the process.

For better or worse, the government is moving to online filing for some things, like human people's income and wealth tax, some cases of VAT and sales tax and a few other forms. I'd say for better or worse because they haven't upgraded the infrastructure, apparently, and the system goes down three to five times a day, sometimes even more. At the very least it works with nearly every current browser on the market (a decade ago or so you could only use Internet Explorer, nothing else)

On the other hand, the tax office helps you file taxes there? Man, I do envy Taiwan. The tax office' employees here are mostly as****** who don't do anything useful for the public.

Oh man, so many hours were lost in SFDT...

To be honest, I know about it only because related videos started to show up in my YT recommended after watching one of gildedguy. And to keep up the honesty, I probably wasted more than a couple hours in that kind of content

Where's the class action lawsuit? Sign me up!

You want a class-action lawsuit for that? I get that you're pissed off about it, but I don't think it would qualify for a lawsuit.