The new version of the Edge browser, from Microsoft, has been available for about a year, and is based on the open source Chromium browser that Google transforms into Google Chrome.
The Chrome extensions work, and Microsoft has updated the browser many times, giving it its own advantages and differences, resulting in a market share of around 10% compared to 3.8% in the past.
If you can't beat 'em, then join 'em, and embrace and extend 'em. It has been the Microsoft way for decades, and while the company has more competition that ever before, it's still a huge company that plays a big role in the world of technology.
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Anyway, the old Edge browser is no longer being supported by Microsoft, and as such, it's no longer safe to use, and in the Windows 10 April Update, due on 13 April in the US (which means 14 April for Australians), it is being uninstalled.
While Internet Explorer hasn't been uninstalled from PCs yet, the older Edge browser is easier to get rid of permanently, and so, it's going, and if you don't already have it, the new Edge Chomium based browser will be installed instead.
Of course, you can use any browser you want, be it Firefox, Chrome, Edge, Brave, Opera or various others, so you don't have to use Edge if you don't want to, but it is a quality browser and people are happy to use it.
Also, if you already have the new Microsoft Edge browser, then al that will change is the old Edge will be uninstalled, but your existing new Edge browser installation will be untouched.
Microsoft also touts it is "more secure than Chrome for businesses on Windows 10".
You can read more here at Microsoft's blog post on the topic.
While Microsoft, on the one hand, has taken the edge off, it has continued sharpening its new Edge in an attempt to cut through and grow ever more market share.
So far, so good for Microsoft, and presumably, if it keeps on improving its offering, more people will be pushed over the thin edge of the wedge to Microsoft's side,
We shall see what the marketshare situation looks like in the next survey, but chances are good that Edge user numbers will again be up, and not just because of the April 10 Edge update.
