Items tagged with EDGE
Microsoft may have hoped that its Edge browser for Windows 10 would come to dominate Chrome and Firefox, but that never came to be, and never will, at least not in its current form. Instead, the Redmond outfit recently announced plans to overhaul Edge and rebuild it around Chromium, the same platform that powers Chrome. Interestingly, however, Microsoft can (and does) claim a victory over its rivals in the browser space. It has nothing to do with market share, as Firefox and especially Chrome are both more widely used than Edge, according to data collected by places like Net Applications and Stat Counter. Where Microsoft claims its victory is in battery life. "The Microsoft Edge team measured...
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Microsoft made somewhat of a surprise announcement last week when it detailed plans to overhaul its struggling (in terms of market share) Edge browser and rebuild it around Chromium (much to Mozilla's dismay), the exact same platform that powers Google's own customized Chrome browser. That's a big change, but will Edge support Chrome's extensive library of extensions? If all goes to plan, the answer is yes. Microsoft is rebuilding its Edge browser around Chromium That wasn't a topic Microsoft chose to address in its blog post announcing the upcoming change to Edge. However, Edge product manager Kyle Alden stated in a discussion on Reddit that his browser team has every intention of baking in...
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When Microsoft rolls out its big update for Windows 10 in October, there will be a new and annoying popup for users who try and install Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox on their machines. Word comes from beta testers of the update report the screenshot below pops up if you try and install a competing browser on your PC. The popup notes that users already have Edge as part of Windows 10, and claims that it is the safer and faster browser. While the popup tries to talk users out of installing the alternative browsers, it will still allow you to install the other browsers if you click the “Install Anyway” button. There is a button that allows users to open the Edge browser instead...
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Have you noticed that YouTube pages appear to load slower in Edge, Firefox, and Safari compared to Google's own Chrome browser? If so, you are not alone. Google redesigned the YouTube experience last year, but the site still uses an older shadow API that is only used in Chrome, which makes other browsers render YouTube much slower. Chris Peterson, a program manager at Mozilla, noticed the performance disparity and posted about the topic on Twitter. According to Peterson, the YouTube page loads five times slower in those other browsers "because YouTube's Polymer redesign relies on the deprecated Shadow DOM v0 API only implemented in Chrome." YouTube page load is 5x slower in Firefox and Edge than...
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Google's Project Zero team has publicly disclosed a security vulnerability in Microsoft's Edge browser for Windows 10 after Microsoft failed to issue a patch in the allotted time. The Project Zero team alerted Microsoft of a bug relating to the browser's Arbitrary Code Guard (ACG) back in November of last year. As is the team's policy, companies generally have 90 days to fix flaws that it discovers before a public disclosure. Image Source: Flickr via okubax In this instance, Microsoft requested and was granted a two-week grace period. Unfortunately Microsoft was still unable to fix the flaw before the extended deadline, so now the details of the bug are public knowledge. With that being the case,...
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Most PCs may run some variant of Microsoft Windows operating system, but Google's Chrome browser still rules the internet browser roost. According to various studies conducted by StatCounter and NetMarketShare, Chrome tightly holds onto nearly 60% of the market share. Microsoft Edge, however, barely claimed a 5% share, despite the fact that 91% of PCs are running a Windows OS of some version. Chrome enjoyed dominance this past year throughout all regions and over various device categories. StatCounter claims that Google Chrome enjoys a 53.91% total share, while NetMarketShare argues that the browser currently maintains 59.49%. These percentages vary by specific regions and devices,...
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Back when Windows 10 was still being talked about and had not yet launched, there was a fear that Microsoft was leading users into a walled garden, a fear that actually started with Windows 8. Things have not played out that way, though a hint of what that world might have looked like can be seen in Windows 10 S, a new version of Windows that is set to compete with Chrome OS in the education market. One of the restrictions in Windows 10 S is that Microsoft's own Edge browser is the default vehicle for surfing the web, and there is no way to change that. Likewise users are restricted to installing apps from the Windows Store, unlike regular versions of Windows 10 where users are free to install...
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Microsoft has a history of riling people up over the way it promotes its own software and services in Windows. One of the longstanding disputes is between Microsoft and developers who make third-party browsers. Microsoft over the years has been accused on several occasions of unfairly favoring Internet Explorer or, more recently, its Edge browser over the competition, and lest anyone think the matter has been put to rest, the co-founder and CEO of Vivaldi is pretty ticked off. For anyone who is not aware, Vivaldi is a third-party browser that has been referred to as the spiritual successor to Opera. It is led by co-founder and CEO Jon von Tetzchner, who also co-founded and formerly served as...
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At this point, Adobe Flash is pretty much the scourge of the internet. The long-standing browser plugin has a penchant for draining PC batteries, impeding overall performance and presents an oft-abused security nightmare. Adobe has already announced that it is sunsetting the plugin in favor or HTML5 and most browser makers have announced their intentions to end support. Microsoft is the latest to step up its efforts to rid the world of Flash, and announced today that Flash will be disabled by default in Edge with the upcoming Windows 10 Creators Update. Microsoft hopes that this move will encourage sites to quickly adopt HTML5 content instead. “Sites that support HTML5 will default to a clean...
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Despite all the effort Microsoft is expending in getting Internet users to try out and stick with its Edge browser, Chrome continues to the popular choice. Even worse for Microsoft, Chrome's popularity is growing—it now accounts for more than half of all desktop browser usage and has nearly double the market share of Edge and Internet Explorer combined. Market research firm Net Applications has Chrome sitting pretty with a 54.99 percent share of the desktop browser market, up from 31.12 percent at this moment a year ago, while Internet Explorer and Edge combine for 28.39 percent and Firefox stuck at around 11 percent. Even more interesting is that when Windows 10 launched to the public at the...
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When it comes to Windows 10, Microsoft is that like that annoying friend that's seen a movie you haven't and keeps asking when you're going to watch it (by the way, check out Deadpool if you haven't already). The journey from Windows 8/8.1 to Windows 10 has been filled with aggressive attempts to get users to upgrade, and even after you do, you might still receive popup ads. For what, you ask? Microsoft's Edge browser. Tech journalist Brad Chacos posted to Twitter a screen grab of a popup ad imploring him to earn free movies and games with Edge. It was basically pointing Brad in the direction of Bing Rewards, an incentive program that rewards users for searching the web with Bing. What is this...
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According to tracking website NetMarketShare, Google's Chrome overtook Internet Explorer this past March to become the most widely-used Web browser on the planet. As of just last month, the service pegged Chrome as owning a staggering 54% of the total marketshare, with IE settling with 27%. Firefox, meanwhile, scored about 8%, while Edge took 5%. With Chrome dominating the market, it must mean that it's the best browser out there, right? While Chrome is definitely doing something right to get to the top, as we've found out in recent months, those reasons have nothing to do with battery life. As we first reported back in June, Microsoft has been harping on the fact that its Edge browser is great...
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Do you use Edge? If not, this incentive might convert you. Microsoft wants to pay customers to use the Windows 10 Edge browser and Bing search engine. Microsoft claims that the Edge browser is faster, more energy efficient than its competitors, and also consistently offers 1080p streaming on Netflix. Edge, nevertheless, has had trouble gathering converts. Google Chrome is by far still currently the world's most popular desktop web browser. Bing Rewards, which paid people for using Bing as their search engine, has been rebranded as “Microsoft Rewards”. Customers can now earn rewards by using Bing, Edge, and making purchases through the Microsoft of Windows store. Users can earn points for...
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Google knows that Chrome has a power consumption problem; users definitely know that Chrome has a power consumption problem; and Microsoft has made it a point in recent months to harp on the issue. Microsoft has blasted Chrome for pulling up the rear in a series of benchmark tests that show it lagging far behind Windows 10’s Edge browser, and even the other competition (like Mozilla Firefox and Opera). Earlier this week, Google began pushing Chrome 52 to Android users with the promise that the browser “now feels smoother, loads faster, and consumes less battery.” Google representatives also told The Verge that huge gains have been made on the battery consumption front (on the Windows 10 platform)...
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Edge is the Internet Explorer replacement that Microsoft has been increasingly trying to promote as an alternative to competing browsers on the market (i.e., Google Chrome, Firefox and Opera). Microsoft has been especially adamant about vilifying Chrome, continually pointing out the browser’s well-known pennant for chewing through laptop batteries at an incredible clip. Microsoft came out swinging in late June, showing Chrome coming in dead last in battery tests (by a large margin). Microsoft struck again last week with benchmarks showing that Edge far outpaced Chrome in Netflix streaming — Edge came out on top despite the fact that it was streaming in 1080p, while Chrome was streaming...
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If you need to get your Orange is the New Black fix in 1080p, Edge might be the browser for you. Microsoft Edge is now the only Windows browser that can consistently stream Netflix in 1080p (the other browsers were limited to 720p). These recent tests follow-up an investigation conducted by Microsoft on browser battery life in June. According to Microsoft’s own testing, Netflix sent higher resolution and higher bitrate video to Microsoft Edge compared to the other browsers. The fact that Microsoft Edge received 1080p content in their test indicates that the browser actually ran a somewhat higher power draw than it otherwise would have. Internet Explorer also ran 1080p, however, it was less predictable...
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Google Chrome might be the most popular browser on the planet, but it has long been criticized for its insistence on tearing through laptop batteries. Between the high memory consumption and negative impact on battery life, Microsoft is trying to capitalize on this achilles heel with its Edge web browser. The PC market is skewed towards customers that use notebooks, tablets and 2-in-1 convertibles, hence making the best of your machine’s available battery is paramount for people who aren’t able to plug into a wall at a moment’s notice. To highlight the disparity between Edge and Chrome, Microsoft conducted some controlled labs tests to see how each browser handled the pressure of a typical user’s...
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We suspect there are some high-fives flying around in Mozilla's offices this morning, as the company's Firefox browser has now caught up with and even slightly bumped ahead of both Internet Explorer and Edge combined in desktop browser market share, according to data provided by StatsCounter. It's the narrowest of victories with Firefox claiming a 15.6 percent share of the desktop browser market at the end of April, compared to 15.5 percent for Microsoft's two browsers combined. In horse racing, that would be a photo finish. Even if you want to call it a tie, which you'd be justified in doing, Microsoft can't be thrilled that more users aren't adopting its Edge browser. "Microsoft might have...
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Microsoft continues to serve up fresh looks of future Windows 10 updates through its Insider Program, and for Windows Insiders who are subscribed to the Fast ring, there's a new build available, build 14342. Among other things, the newest build introduces updates for extensions in Microsoft's Edge browser.Rather than have to download extensions and then extract and load them from a local folder, every available extension can now be downloaded right from the Windows Store.Replacing the old method of downloading extensions and then extracting and loading them from a local folder, Microsoft made it so that every available extension can be downloaded directly from the Windows Store. That will make...
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Microsoft is changing how search queries entered into the Cortana search box in Windows 10 are carried out. From now own—and for your own good, from Microsoft's angle—searches made with Cortana searches will only be carried out with Edge and Bing, even if you've configured a third-party browser like Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox to be the default. You're still free to use third-party browsers in Windows 10 all you want, otherwise Microsoft would be looking antitrust lawsuits. However, Microsoft wants its digital assistant to stay loyal to Edge and Bing to avoid delivering a "compromised experience" to users. That's the explanation Microsoft is giving on the surface, anyway. "Unfortunately,...
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When it originally leaked out that Microsoft's next major Windows 10 update would be 'Redstone', it seemed likely that one of the things coming with it would be support for extensions in Edge. With it recently becoming known that Redstone will be spitting into two, the state of Edge extensions were up-in-the-air. Well, a new leak gives us hope that we won't be waiting much longer after all. Where's the leak come from? None other than Microsoft itself! Through some sort of accident, Microsoft launched the official landing page for Edge extensions, which doesn't just give us a hint that the official support is coming soon, it gives us a quick preview of what's going to be available. At the moment,...
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Microsoft is really pushing its Windows 10 operating system, and many people are actually taking the plunge. After all, Windows 10 is free upgrade for customers running Windows 7 and Windows 8, so it’s a compelling option for those that want to have the latest and greatest operating system at their fingertips. Windows 10 adoption is growing at a steady clip, with one recent report suggesting that global installs have topped 200 million. However, the same cannot be said for Microsoft’s Edge browser, the successor to the venerable Internet Explorer (now on version 11). New data from NetMarketShare shows that Windows 10 users haven’t exactly warmed up to Edge. In fact, the nascent browser is actually...
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