Microsoft Edge, the new browser Microsoft is rolling out for Windows 10, has generally been well-received. But there’s a simple reason why it will take a long time before it really competes with its browser rivals.
As Gartner analysts David Mitchell Smith and Michael A Silver highlight in a recent paper, the big restriction on uptake of Edge will be the fact that initially it will purely be a Windows 10 offering:
Edge requires the Windows 10 operating system, so it doesn’t support the most popular operating systems today, Windows 7, 8, Android and iOS. (We do expect that Microsoft’s recent multiplatform focus means that it will make Edge available for Android and iOS, but it has not stated that it will.) We don’t expect the majority of enterprises to implement widespread upgrades to Windows 10 until 2017, so Edge will not be a major factor for most enterprises until then.
Individuals will receive a free upgrade to Windows 10 from Windows 7 and Windows 8, so they’ll have the option of using Edge (or Chrome or Firefox or Opera or even IE). But corporates are likely to take a much more measured approach to upgrading, and that means Edge won’t even be an option.
Comments
4 responses to “Microsoft Edge Has One Big Disadvantage In The Browser Wars”
…That being: it’s now called ‘Edge’ instead of ‘Spartan’.
*shakes head sadly*
All users I know like to have at least one or two extensions enabled in their browsers.
When they fire up their Win10 upgrade and find they have to use a non-Edge browser to get the functionality they want, they’ll do just that. And never give Edge a second look. Even when extension support arrives later.
Edge doesn’t stand a chance.
As a by the numbers browser I don’t think this will hit it Edge all that hard. From what I can tell it’s not trying to sell people on the browser as much as provide a basic internet portal for modern Microsoft operating systems that doesn’t need to be replaced out of the box with Firefox or Chrome the way old Internet Explorer did.
My theory is that they’ve re-evaluated the value of winning the browser wars and decided it’s no longer a goal worth chasing. Think about it. Their position of control over browser standards caused them nothing but grief. Edge isn’t about converting people to a Microsoft browser, it’s about unifying modern Microsoft operating systems and creating something that scales from phone to desktop and back again. I would have expected it on Windows 8, although I guess it’s not really worth the hassle since they’re assuming everyone will jump ship to Windows 10, but there’s no point in Windows 7. Android and iOS versions of Edge.
If they were giving up on trying to compete in the browser market, wouldn’t it have been easier for them to just publish a browser based on WebKit or Blink?