Microsoft Confirms Edge will use Chromium Rendering Engine, Launches Insider Program
Earlier this week it was rumored that Microsoft might be replacing EdgeHTML with the Chromium rendering engine. Today, the company announced plans to do just that, as well as bring Edge to more platforms—including macOS.
As announced on the Windows Blog, Microsoft plans to “adopt the Chromium open source project in the development of Microsoft Edge on the desktop,” which means that it will continue to develop Edge—not replace it—using the Chromium rendering engine.
Microsoft continues by saying that it will, in turn, become “significant contributor to the Chromium project.” As we highlighted in our original post, this will be great for everyone who builds browsers based on Chromium, because as Microsoft innovates and builds on this platform, progress will be shared.
Beyond this, the new version of Edge will be coming to Windows 7 and 8 (not just 10), as well as other platforms—like macOS. It’s unclear if many Mac users will make a move from Safari to Edge, but options are always welcome in any case. They’re also working on an Arm build.
If you’re the type who likes to get eyes on beta versions of software before it hits the masses, there’s also an Insider Program for the Edge browser. If you’re interested in taking a look at the new Chromium-powered version of Edge, this is where you’ll find it.
via Microsoft