14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft Edge is the default browser in Windows 10, and as far as the software giant is concerned, it will remain just that for many months from now because the company still doesn’t plan to launch it on other platforms, such as Windows 7 or 8, iOS, or Android.
The Edge dev team has said in a Q&A session on Twitter that versions of Edge for rival platforms are not yet planned, which means that the browser will remain a Windows 10-exclusive app for the time being.
This isn’t the first time when Microsoft says such a thing, but previously, Edge was only part of the preview version of Windows 10, so part of the browser still needed significant improvements.
Redmond stressed that it first wanted to make Edge truly powerful and only then think about bringing it on other platforms, so reiterating its decision to keep it on Windows 10 only could be a sign that the company isn’t entirely satisfied with the way the browser performs right now.
And neither are users, who want many more features in Edge browser, including the long-promised extension support, which is supposed to arrive in the coming weeks.
A reason to move to Windows 10
Another reason to keep Edge a Windows 10-exclusive feature is that Microsoft wants to use it as an incentive to convince users to move to its new operating system.
The company launched Edge with much fanfare, and insiders know that the browser previously called Project Spartan was introduced by Microsoft as a big revolution for this side of the software market. It does bring some new features to the table, but it’s still lagging behind its rivals for the time being.
And despite the fact that Microsoft isn’t yet planning to bring Edge on other platforms, given the company’s interest in Android apps lately, don’t be too surprised if a version of the browser is released for non-Windows mobile OSes too sometime in the next 12 months.