Remember the browser wars? In 1995, Microsoft launched Internet Explorer and started bundling it with Windows in order to snatch away market share from the then-dominant browser, Netscape. It worked -- in the early naughts, all everyone ever used for browsing was Internet Explorer.
But then came the alternatives: Firefox in 2004 and Google's Chrome 2008. These browsers were faster and more advanced than Internet Explorer and they slowly chipped away at Microsoft's browser market share, prompting Microsoft to essentially kill IE in 2015 and replace it with Edge.
Now, however, we may be near the point in which Microsoft throws in the towel and switches to a browser based on Chromium, Google's open-source browser project upon which Chrome (and several other browser, like Brave or Opera) is built.
According to a report from Windows Central, Microsoft is working on a Chromium-based browser, codenamed "Anaheim," which will replace Edge as the default browser on Windows 10.
The report claims that Edge's rendering engine, EdgeHTML, is "dead" though it's unclear whether the new browser will live under the Edge brand or be called something else entirely.
The news comes shortly after 9to5Google spotted that a pair of Microsoft developers were contributing to Chromium. Though those commits were related to a Chrome version for ARM processor, it's possible that some of the work will end up being used in Microsoft's new, Chromium-based browser as well.
The news is big, though not entirely unexpected. Edge never managed to get traction with users; it currently has 4.34% market share according to NetMarketShare, compared to Chrome's 63.6%. Even Microsoft's largely deprecated Internet Explorer stands much better, with a 11.19% market share. But if Microsoft, which once dominated the web browser market, really starts pushing a Chromium-based browser as Windows default, it surely has to feel like defeat.
For users, the news is probably good. In recent years, Chrome (more precisely, its browser engine, Blink) has basically become the standard for rendering the web. A Microsoft-made Chromium-based browser would render web pages nearly identically as Chrome, meaning less confusion over which web site works well in what browser.
We've contacted Microsoft to verify the accuracy of the report but have not yet heard from them.
TopicsMicrosoft
(责任编辑：百科)
Singapore rolls out video
Alligators may not have changed much in 8 million years
The top 'Smash' players are gathering at Smash Summit 3 in November
Angelina Jolie reportedly files for divorce from Brad PittFiji wins first'The Flying Bum' aircraft crashes during second test flight
Airlander 10, the world's largest aircraft, on Wednesday crashed at its Cardington Airfield base in
...[详细]Samsung hit with lawsuit over exploding Galaxy Note7, report says
The reports of exploding Samsung Galaxy Note7 smartphones have resulted in a massive recall. But for
...[详细]The NCAA fined Stanford for too much practice and a bicycle
ICYMI: Stanford freshman Katie Ledecky will not have a free waffle maker in her dorm room this fall.
...[详细]The top 'Smash' players are gathering at Smash Summit 3 in November
Smash Summit is returning for a third time, inviting 10 of the best Super Smash Bros. Meleeplayers t
...[详细]'Rocket League' Championship Series Season 2 offers $250,000 prize pool
Rocket League 。's competitive scene is just getting started.
。The
。 Rocket League
。Championship Series i
...[详细]Horrifying bejeweled crocs hit the runway at London Fashion Week
The ugly shoe craze is not over. We've seen what happens when Uggs and Tevas team up, and even the h
...[详细]GoPro finally shows off its foldable Karma drone, and it's super sleek
SQUAW VALLEY, CA -- After over a year of teases, GoPro has finally unveiled its Karma drone, which w
...[详细]Emmys 2016: Hillary Clinton is Kate McKinnon's #1 fan
Like pretty much everyone else on the planet, Hillary Clinton is a Kate McKinnon fan.During Sunday n
...[详细]The Weeknd teases new music in Instagram post
The Weeknd is approaching. 。 The Grammy award-winning singer looks to be in full third-studio-album m
...[详细]Baseball exec gets suspended for keeping secret medical records
Recent controversies surrounding the release of medical records have claimed Hilary Clinton, Donald
...[详细]Sound the alarms: Simone Biles finally met Zac Efron
Apple is releasing a beefy Smart Battery Case for iPhone 7
