Edge Browser to Use Open Source Components

• Plans for a Chromium-based Edge browser may simplify compatibility testing and development for Web sites and apps.
• Edge will be made available on other platforms.
• The changes could make Edge more viable as a corporate standard.
• Feature updates and fixes to Edge may be more frequent than feature updates to the Windows OS.

The Edge Web browser (included with Windows 10) will use open source components from the open source Chromium Projects (Chromium) browser development initiative. The move could improve Edge’s compatibility with Web standards and make it easier to develop Web sites, applications, and services that support Edge. In addition, Microsoft plans to deliver Edge on other platforms and separate the delivery of updates to Edge from feature updates to Windows 10, so the browser can be updated more frequently than the OS. However, the changes will likely be incrementally introduced over the next several months and it is not clear that these changes will be enough to encourage enterprises to standardize on Edge.