A preview build of the Chromium engine-based Microsoft Edge is expected to debut early next year.
Microsoft has officially announced that it is bringing Chromium engine to Microsoft Edge. The open-source Web rendering engine is already available to the masses through Google’s Chrome browser. The Redmond-based giant also wants to become a «significant contributor» to the Chromium project. Alongside switching to Chromium engine, Microsoft has revealed that it is expanding its Edge to Apple’s macOS. A Chromium version of the Edge browser is also reaching previous Windows platforms, including Windows 7 and Windows 8.
«Ultimately, we want to make the Web experience better for many different audiences,» says Joe Belfiore, Corporate Vice President, Windows, in a blog post. «People using Microsoft Edge (and potentially other browsers) will experience improved compatibility with all websites while getting the best-possible battery life and hardware integration on all kinds of Windows devices. Web developers will have a less-fragmented web platform to test their sites against, ensuring that there are fewer problems and increased satisfaction for users of their sites; and because we’ll continue to provide the Microsoft Edge service-driven understanding of legacy IE-only sites, Corporate IT will have improved compatibility for both old and new web apps in the browser that comes with Windows.
