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Comment by MikusR | Hacker News Reader

In short. Edge engine is dead. Based on Chromium. Not an UWP. Will be on Windows 7 and Mac.

This is hilarious to me. When Edge was just a rumor and before Windows 10 was released, I said here that I hope Microsoft will not repeat the mistake of tying this new modern browser to Windows 10 like it has done in the past with Internet Explorer and prior Windows versions.

Microsoft, in its short-sighted way, thought that tying the browser to Windows would be an "advantage," because of things like "better integration with the OS" and throwing the Edge updates in there with the Windows updates, without needing a different update channel.

However, this was short-sighted was because of the following reasons:

- Edge development would remain very sluggish compared to the development of Chrome and Firefox, as new major features would have to wait until Windows itself gets new major features (which happens every 6 months, rather than 6 weeks).

- It would mean Edge would not be cross-platform, a huge strategic mistake on Microsoft's part. People want to use the same browser across devices.

- The proprietary "features" Microsoft would build in Edge over time that only work with certain versions of Windows will come back to bite it in the ass in the future.

>"- It would mean Edge would not be cross-platform, a huge strategic mistake on Microsoft's part. People want to use the same browser across devices"

Realy? Id prefer different browsers optimised for the device. I don't even think theres much similarity between the desktop and the mobile browser anyway.

Any benefits other than bookmark sharing etc?

I didn't see any mention of Windows 7 or that it won't be a UWP on Windows, are there more details somewhere?

Agreed. I see zero chance that Edge will suddenly be ported back to Windows 7. And it would be almost as big of a shock if the Chromium-based Edge is not UWP.

The blog post says it's coming to all supported versions of windows. Until 2020, that includes Windows 7 and 8

In this case, I think "supported" means what Microsoft calls "Mainstream Support" (1). Windows 7 and 8.1 are both in "Extended Support", which only gets security updates.

Mainstream support for Win7 ended in 2015, for Win8.1 in January 2018. The only mainstream supported versions of Windows are various Windows 10 editions.

(1) https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/14085/microsoft-bus...

I stand corrected--this is exactly what they're going to do. Take Win32 Chromium, rename it Edge, and build it for Win7, 8, and 10. What a huge blow to everyone at MS who believes in UWP.

https://www.theverge.com/2018/12/6/18128648/microsoft-edge-c...

> What a huge blow to everyone at MS who believes in UWP.

That may be so, but is there anyone outside of MS who believes in UWP? Not even stalwart MS exclusive devs seem to do so.

Adobe XD is a UWP app.

Maybe there will still be a UWP version on Windows 10?

Why should it be a blow?

The fact is that if they want to support Windows 7, 8.1 and macOS it naturally cannot be kept as UWP app, as their infrastructure requires Windows 10 features.

It's important to remind folks the Universal Windows Platform includes Win32 apps.

UWP includes Win32 apps, as well (if they play well with appx/ MSIX).

The GitHub readme is more explicit:

https://github.com/MicrosoftEdge/MSEdge

> We will evolve the Microsoft Edge app architecture, enabling distribution to all supported versions of Windows including Windows 7 and Windows 8, as well as Windows 10. We will also bring Microsoft Edge to other desktop platforms, such as macOS.

And the updates won't be tied to Windows versions anymore.

If Edge comes to Linux it will be the second ice age in hell.

Why? Other Microsoft software runs on Linux.

In their defense, they did specify it being the second.

Once upon a time there was an IE version for Solaris.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Explorer_for_UNIX

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