14 DAY TRIAL // Windows 10 comes with a new browser called Microsoft Edge which has not only a new UI but also a new engine and feature lineup to quickly replace Internet Explorer on every Windows machine.
Edge, however, is only available in Windows 10 and Microsoft uses the browser as a reason to upgrade to the new operating system, but at the same time, its adoption figures are obviously impacted. Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and other rival browsers are currently available on all Windows versions, while Edge can only be used in Windows 10.
But as compared to Internet Explorer, Edge is already more successful, according to Chief Marketing Officer at Microsoft Chris Capossela, who talked about the company’s Windows 10 plans at the Citi Global Tech Conference in New York.
“We’ve put a lot of work into Microsoft Edge, this new browser that comes with Windows 10, and we're seeing that Edge usage is higher on Windows 10 than IE usage was on Windows 8 and Windows 7. That's net positive for Microsoft. That's more queries being executed through Bing, that's more ad revenue flowing through Edge,” he said.
The big challenge
But for Microsoft Edge, the big challenge is not necessarily to have more users than Internet Explorer (critics would say that it’s not hard to achieve this given how many people actually use IE), but to compete against Chrome and Firefox in the browser war.
To do that, Edge needs more significant improvements, and the browser is set to receive them in the coming months. In October or November, Microsoft is expected to release a major Windows 10 update that would also bring extension support in Edge, with the company aiming to offer full support for Chrome extensions that should work in its browser with little to no modifications.
Edge will also be available on mobile devices as a universal app, but only time will tell if users are ready to go all-in on a Microsoft browser.