APRIL 2020 • TECH ADVISOR 452019, Chrome commanded over 67 percent of the
browser market, as measured by NetMarketShare.
Firefox,currentlythesecondmostpopularbrowser,
capturedjust 9 percent.
Edge’s thin market share is an opportunity for
Microsoft to switch horses midstream. Because the
new Edge is built upon the Chromium open-source
engine (earning it informal monikers such as ‘Edgium’
and ‘Chredge’), Edge is now closer to Chrome than
ever before, and can tap into Chrome’s vast library of
extensions. Microsoft may have painstakingly gathered
around 100 productivityextensionsforEdge,with
morefor ad blockers and other utilities, but it still
can’t hold a candle to the hundreds (thousands?) of
extensions available via the Chrome Web Store.
Beginning 15 January, Microsoft began replacing
the old Edge with the new Edge on consumer PCs
with Windows 10 Home and Windows 10 Pro, though
Release Preview Insiders will be the first to get it.
Businesses will have a choice of whether to accept the
new Edge, but consumers won’t. Like the old Edge,
the new Edge is integrated into Windows 10, though
versions will be available for Windows 8/8.1 and even
Apple’s macOS.
Setup: Quick and easy
Virtually every browser available minimizes the setup
andinstallationprocessasmuchaspossible.The
newEdge is no different.
Until Microsoft actually begins replacing the ‘old’
Edgewiththe‘new’Edge,wedon’tknowexactly
howthe process will work. But simply downloading