Microsoft Edge dev preview for Linux | Hacker News Reader

Microsoft Edge dev preview for Linux

blogs.windows.com

51 pointskylealden46 comments

Nice of them to make something so that CI/CD systems can run tests of frontend functionality in Edge without requiring a Windows runner.

Because I cannot imagine anyone will use this unironically as their browser on their Linux desktop.

I will absolutely use this unironically on Linux, and I can't wait. Edge has all (most?) of the features of Chrome and isn't tied to Google's services. Somehow the world has twisted to where I trust Microsoft more than Google, even if it's just to not shut their stuff down on a whim. I'm trying to get all my services off Google, and if it weren't for Voice... You ought to unironically try it.

As far as I know MS doesn’t tie your browser login with their web apps login. If true that’s enough reason to use Edge over Chrome.

Personally, I’ll stick with Firefox. Especially now that you can choose your default browser in iOS, with my Firefox data synced across all devices no matter the platform it’s a great experience.

I’m unironically using Firefox.

It's like people forgot firefox exists ;_;

If your workload does not consist of synthetic benchmark development or hardcore webgl stuff, firefox is more than capable of being used as your daily driver. Hell, it once had over 30% of market share. Also, its more configurable, and offers interesting privacy features.

Why send your data to Big Tech when today you can avoid it (ungoogled chromium et al)?

I am on Windows and I would like to use ungoogled Chromium but I don't see it as a choice because it does not have automatic updates and I am concerned about my security. I suppose this is a solved problem on Linux?

There are repos that carry it, but doesn't the Windows version autoupdate? Or at least warn you of an update?

Does Chromium not fit this bill?? ( I really don't know)

People who want SSO to work with Azure AD (which Edge, at least on Windows and Mac, has special sauce for), and people who have IT Departments that force them to (for SSO and for the most likely Defender ATP integration that'll come eventually).

I absolutely will run Edge on Linux as soon as it's ready. It's the same Chrome but with a much stronger privacy promise from Microsoft.

I'll definitely use it as soon as the linux version gets the text-to-speech version that the windows build has, which is really good.

I'd use it. It's a chromium based browser by someone not being investigated for antitrust

By someone not being investigated for antitrust this year.

Visit beautiful Germany- a country not committing genocide this year.

You know that was a long time ago right?

I'm sure they'll have another go.

It's funny how Microsoft became the lesser evil after being considered worse than Satan for a very long time. I don't disagree with you, but it's still funny.

Some of us are too young to really understand the anti-Microsoft sentiment of the 90s and early 2000s. All I remember from that era is that “Microsoft is bad”; I never completely understood why it was bad. Then Facebook and Google came along and I got a front row seat to their descent into the depths of the moral abyss. So from my perspective, Microsoft is the lesser of 3 evils.

In the early 90's, there was a multitude of computing platforms to chose from, and Windows was considered no more than a graphical shell on top of DOS. Amiga, Atari, Macintosh, OS/2, RiscOS and several others were all contending for a slice of the cake, but by '97 most alternatives had either gone bankrupt or forced into small nieche markets.

Obviously Microsoft had nothing to do with the fact that most of those pretty much died due to their own failures, but many, many people blamed Microsoft for using their OEM deals to push the other players out and thereby killing off their favourite platform. When Microsoft started using seriously anti-competitive behaviour when they pushed Explorer with Windows, they also forced a feature race with Netscape (who ultimately lost, as we all know), and that race was the last nail in the coffin for the alternative platforms. There were no open source web browsers back then, and commercial alternatives for platforms like the Amiga simply couldn't keep up. Explorer became a killer app, and Windows pretty much took it all, apart from Apple which managed to survive because of Microsoft funding. And boy, those Amiga and Atari users can be rabid about Microsoft. I know. I used to be one of them. :D

I've always thought the hatred was a bit overblown. Bundling an Internet browser with an operating system was that big a deal? Not just to lawmakers but hackers? Boy are we way past that now.

Too bad they were convicted on those charges.

I will. I think it is good with challengers and look forward to try it.

Why use Edge over Chromium on Linux?

Because Edge will sync all my stuff across all devices. I use Linux, and OneNote, and OneDrive and all the above.

Why not? Perhaps it is better. I will try to see.

Why not? It’s just Chromium.

I'm on Ubuntu and the sole purpose I'll be using this for is Netflix @ Ultra HD. Still baffles me why is Edge the only browser supporting it.

I don't think playready DRM is in the Linux version. If that's the case you'll be limited to 720p there as well.

So, is msft edge (chromium) actually open source? How close to the original chromium code base is it? Can I compile a build myself?

I haven’t downloaded it myself, but here’s the source for it: https://thirdpartysource.microsoft.com/

Filter for “Edge Linux” to get a tar of the source code.

No, it is not open source.

Anyone find this build very slow? When I click on a page, the repaint is taking 10-20s, or requiring forced window repaint by moving to another desktop and back.

I see that this is based on the Chromium `88.0.673.0` build, so I expect it will just be unstable for a bit.

Wasn't there a post hear some time ago, arguing that MS won't wind down Windows and going full in on Linux?

My guess is, OS money is over and MS wants to safe budget in the long run running its money makers on Linux etc.

They have just decided to sell all their stuffs on all their places, instead of pushing Windows. PCs are losing their place so they've decided not to go down with the ship. But, they have no need to replace Windows, that's still a large bastion of sales for business, and a tremendous lead in for Azure and Office 365. That would only lessen if they moved to something they controlled less.

Wouldn't be surprised if Office will follow Edge.

I would, it's a very big legacy codebase.

Microsoft makes a pretty good amount of money on Windows licensing, and a whole lot of places run Windows because 1) AD is pretty great, and 2) A lot of software businesses rely on is Windows only.

I do not see this changing in the near future. I can't see a strong incentive for companies to switch to Linux even if MS brings AD, GPOs, Office, and its own MS-supported WINE.

AD is not great. It depends on a legacy model with trusted company networks that was out even before COVID and all the home working hammered the last nail into its coffin.

Setting up new systems with it remotely is a real pain, something the EMM model fixes completely.

Pretty much all the remote work I'm aware of in my area is done using RDP, so AD is still relevant. I think your opinion may be biased towards smaller and younger companies.

Interested in more detail on this?

In which way?

I work in EMM (though not Windows) and we are rapidly moving to Intune/Azure AD now because of this change. Onboarding new machines has become a nightmare when people can't go to the office.

The problem is a catch-22.. We require a 'trusted' machine to connect to the VPN. Yet the VPN is required to connect to AD and bind it, which is the de-facto way it becomes trusted.

Before someone in the office would do this but in many cases this hasn't been possible since COVID so it's exposed the issues with this approach. But even before that, working from home has been causing a lot of friction.

Everyone is moving to EMM models now, like Google Beyondcorp. MS is pushing Intune now as main management, with 'comanagement' with AD for the time being because it doesn't have the same scope of functionality yet. But it's clear that their long-term plan is to abandon it.

Thank you now it makes sense to me.

The problem is that if they offer anything but 1000% bug-compatibility, a Linux-based Windows is just another Windows RT-style penalty box. Yeah, it runs Edge and Office, but none of the closed-source line-of-business software that are baked into people's refined-over-20-years workflow. None of the games with such aggressive and brittle DRM and anti-cheat they break under even official Insider builds. None of the drivers for obscure peripherals that the manufacturer disowned by 2010. You still have a sky-high switching risk.

The way out I could imagine would be some sort of packaged virtualization, like the "XP Mode" feature on Windows 7. Your legacy apps spin up in a thin, well-integrated VM which ran a "final" build of classic Win10 designed for minimal disruption. The VMs, in turn, would be aggressively sandboxed and firewalled to keep it tamed. I'd suspect there'd still be some gaps-- drivers for hardware that can't be easily wired to a VM, but I suspect there's a mountain of logistics and performance issues that don't fit in a two-paragraph post.

Most of these decisions are driven by cloud computing where the data servers are primarily running Linux. To get the developer mindshare they have to provide their products on Linux. In the case of Edge, it was to allow testing for browser compatibility on a Linux CI environment. Same thing with WSL an VScode.

The browser never brought in revenue for MS directly; it was part of their moat. (Exactly like Google today, now that I think about it.)

Windows, both server and desktop, is still raking in billions. There is zero reason for MS to give up on it.

“Microsoft Edge”, don't they mean a re-skinned Google Chromium.

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