Why does any of this matter? For all practical purposes, this is IE - nobody would choose to use it, but because it will come bundled with Windows, a lot of people who don't care to switch browsers will use it. That's all there is to it.
That's good. So does every other browser since forever.
> when all other browsers break your code you will appreciate their hard work.
I am a webdev, and I use Firefox as my main browser for work. When I am done with a feature or a new page I usually test it in Chrome and it works without problems. Then IE, and I still have to tweak the hell out of the code to make it work there as well. So ms is not there yet.
When MS stretched violently with IE 6 back then, they changed the web landscape forever, they were light years ahead of competition. The practically invented AJAX. If MS can do with Edge what they did with IE 6, the future is very bright.
Since IE 6, most changes in web technology has been incremental. The powerful changes like WebGL are not enough mainstream. MS was, and still is, in power of forwarding things fast. So when you look at it like that, this is all good news.
* I love the idea of Cortana and Annotation in my browser. * Microsoft have lately proved pretty capable of producing fast and power-efficient browsers * Native OS integration could provide some nice features (share charm, good hi-resolution rendering support, native touch-gesture support). * Hoping for Ad-Block support - that's the only add-on I really use
Of course if none of that pans out, I'll be back to Firefox.
Where is this conclusion coming from? If a new engine won't make it not "IE", then what will?
(EDIT: Actually, there is one Metro app that I use regularly on my HTPC and tablets and that is Netflix.)