Report: Microsoft to replace classic Edge with new Edge from early 2020 on
Microsoft revealed that the new Chromium-based Microsoft Edge web browser will be released on January 15, 2020 officially (and that it will come to Linux) this week. What the company did not reveal at the time was when it planned to replace the classic Edge browser on supported versions of Windows 10 with the new Microsoft Edge browser.
According to a Neowin report, the replacement starts at the day of general availability. Neowin writer Rich Woods claims that Microsoft will start the roll out replacement of classic Edge on January 15, 2020.
Only a small group of devices will receive the new version of Microsoft Edge in the beginning as Microsoft wants to monitor the deployment and user feedback. It will speed up throughout the year.
OEMs will receive the new Edge as soon as it is ready as well so that it may be integrated directly into new Windows installations.
One of the main advantages of the Chromium-based Microsoft Edge web browser is that it does not rely on the underlying operating system anymore. In other words, Microsoft does not have to wait for a new feature release to come along to push the new browser to Windows 10 systems.
It is unclear how the new Edge will be pushed to devices. Will Microsoft announce the change to users of the device or even give them a choice in this regard, or will the new Edge be placed on the system silently in the background? Will there be a notification for users who use Edge actively or for all users?
Considering that the general availability is just two months away, we will soon find out one way or the other.
Microsoft has yet to confirm the plan that Neowin revealed and it should be filed under rumor for the time being.
Closing Words
The replacement should not affect Windows 10 users who don't use Microsoft Edge and have no intention to use it. Users who use it actively currently may notice changes, e.g. that some features are no longer supported or that web compatibility and speed improved.
Now you: Will the Chromium-based Edge do better than classic Edge?
Nothing will do any less than the current Edge even MS. I.E. 11 is much better!
But I am wondering because I not reading anywhere that the M.s. Internet Explorer 11 will be staying on the Windows 10 o.s., or will the overwrite it with the new Chronium Edge?
And also I cant find enywhere that Microsoft with the new Edge Chronium can remove add-ons from there site like Ublock origin, Ghostery, Privacy badger, smart referer, or Noscript to name a few?
It is really a nice step forward. Uses the open source Chromium engine and is better for privacy than Chrome is at this point.
It’s as bad as Chrome. Edge sends the full URL of pages you visit (minus a few popular sites) to Microsoft. And, in contrast to documentation, includes your very non-anonymous account ID (SID)
a few predictions:
– Corporate environments will prefer Edge over other browsers and this will help with adoption
– firefox will lose around 20% of their user base to Edge during 2020
– if MS pushes Edge aggressively to IE users, it will quickly become the second most used Desktop browser with >10%
– Depending on Marketing, Edge will convince a significant part of Chrome user base to switch, maybe 5% during 2020
– Edge desktop market share at the end of 2020 will be between 15-20%
– Mozilla won‘t be able to sustain their business with the 2021 search deals and will announce the switch to the Chromium Engine at the end of 2020
@michael: “will announce the switch to the Chromium Engine at the end of 2020”
There’s not a snowballs’ chance in hell of that. Why would they do this? All it would do is guarantee that they’ll lose their remaining users.
If the disaster scenario you’re predicting comes to pass, I think it’s more likely that Mozilla will seriously reduce active development of Firefox, but otherwise keep it as it is, and will focus more on “services”. They’ve already been putting an increasing amount of effort in that direction as it is.
michael, with or without Edge, MalwareFox will lose its market share. It is steadily declining, and it has been the case for the past years. Currently at 9,25%. In March 2020, if the stats for MalwareFox would still show anything above 8%, I’d be really surprised.
I think they’ll still have above 6% by the end of 2020, so Gecko could still be alive. Give it two to three years however and the whole thing will be dead, the entire organization to Hell, along with the idiots responsible for the shitshow that MalwareFox has been since early 2018.
Hail Chromium!
Michael = shill.
No one will use Blink Edge, because sheeple can’t be bothered to switch from Chrome to a shittier Chromium clone.
Corporations will stay with whatever they are using now (probably IE 11 or Chrome). That’s how the corporate environment rolls, no system admin wants to switch to anything as long as it works.
Blink Edge will never exceed Firefox, it will languish with all the other Blink clones (Opera, Vivaldi, Brave, etc.).
Firefox’s marketshare will INCREASE as uBlock Origin users on Chrome switch to Firefox, when Manifest v. 3 arrives (gorhill will not develop on Blink Chrome/clones when Manifest v. 3 is implemented).
When the inevitable drive-thru malvertising attack hits everyone on Chrome + Blink clones, & the Firefox users (protected by uBlock Origin) are laughing at them, there will be a mass exodus from Chrome to Firefox.
notanon, I hope to be an exodus. But it won’t happen. Most users of Chrome don’t have an adblocker installed. It didn’t affect Safari when Apple did the same, I don’t see it happening in Chrome.
I reckon Microsoft will force at least one annoying feature on us that I won’t want, such as involving an unremovable link to OneDrive (AKA spam)…, but we will see.
“Microsoft: not that great, but arguably good enough for most folks”
They’re already doing nonsense like this. Initially, Edgium was just a marginally nicer GUI for Chromium, but then there’s the online-only New Tab Page, Pinterest integration, Collections, O365 integration, “Microsoft Shopping” even appeared in my Dev version.
I’ll be ditching it soon.
This was the biggest question I’ve had regarding Chromium-based Edge. Glad to see it’s finally been answered.
So I don’t have to do anything after all. Microsoft will take care of it.
“Now you: Will the Chromium-based Edge do better than classic Edge?”
Thinking back at many of the complaints I had seen about classic Edge, and even my own was simply Edge is lacking, yes the new Chromium-based Edge will do better no doubt. Edge userbase will grow and I can see Chrome taking a hit from it. Time will tell.
I do hope Microsoft will keep Edge lean but that seems unlikely.
Not sure if I will use Edge more or less in the future (currently more out of pure curiosity) it will most likely at least be my backup.
Another browser engine bites the dust…… And now CHROMIFIED…… RIP
The crude fact is that all sites work 100% fine with Chromium. Truth is always hard, really.
ChrEdge will fail just like the current Edge/IE. It will reach 5% usage browser share in 10 years.
ChrEdge will be released on Jan. 15 2020 just a day after Windows 7 EOL on Jan. 14 2020, so how come Microsoft lists Windows 7 as getting ChrEdge ?
@ilev
Maybe Microsoft recognizes that, EOL or not, there will continue to be a substantial number of Win 7 installs for years to come and they want to try to keep those users on a Microsoft browser.
We need some browser which is not chromium at its core! The writing is on the wall however, even firefox will eventually be nothing more than a chromium overlay, on android that’s already happening.
Why is chromium bad? It tracks you, it owns your data, sells it unabashedly to anyone, highly undesirable for anyone who values their privacy, free thought and speech.
Chromium Edge shows even microsoft failed to tackle this problem.
Do look beyond the ease of use and convenience of selling your thoughts for little to nothing in return. Stop supporting and believing google, it’ll only get worse from here on out otherwise.
@harlan ” even firefox will eventually be nothing more than a chromium overlay”
Why you say this?
@harlan “it’ll only get worse from here on out otherwise.”
What island you living on?
Web standards will slip into the haves and have nots with rendering, unless I am wrong?
Most cases the majority rules and in the case of browsers that would be Chromium engine. I think Microsoft made that very clear when it abandon its own engine for Chromium. The question is how significant will this be for determining web standards? I would say probably a lot and that leaves browser like Firefox wondering what to do now?