Microsoft releases Microsoft Edge on Chromium

Attention: Clients using (or considering) Microsoft Edge as your primary browser, a new release is now available and is built on Chromium. Marketing and IT staff responsible for your website(s) should also consider this information, as website visitors may be accessing the website from the new Microsoft Edge browser.

What is Chromium? Chromium is an open-source browser project that forms the basis for the Google Chrome web browser. Its code is open-source; as such, other browsers (such as Opera) have adopted it as the standard for website rendering. Now, Microsoft has announced that it is officially changing to Chromium and has provided a roadmap to roll this out to users in the coming months. This change is intended to allow web developers to target one less browser when developing and testing new website changes. The Chromium engine is used by Chrome, the leading web browser available today.

Why this is important: Although it’s still called “Edge”, the new Microsoft Edge being built on Chromium is technically a new browser that could affect websites and other interfaces (intranets, portals, etc) being accessed via your web browser. Additional features include privacy updates, cross-device synchronization, and dark mode, but this update is mostly important because Chromium is a new rendering engine for Edge. This will affect how website content is displayed for visitors using the new version of Edge.

The new Microsoft Edge has been out since January 14th. Microsoft is planning on rolling this out fully by this summer through Windows 10 updates. These updates will eventually replace the built-in browser with Edge Chromium.

What can we do to be prepared? We suggest bringing this matter to the attention of your IT staff. The priority of this update will likely depend on whether you currently use Microsoft Edge as your primary browser, or are considering the browser as part of a future internal systems upgrade. 

Additionally, consider your external audience of website visitors that may already be accessing your site from the new Edge (or may be later this year).

You may choose to proactively download the most recent version of the Microsoft Edge browser and conduct a review of your website(s). Depending on your firm’s IT security policies, you may be blocked from doing so. Please note that when you do download and install this version of Edge, it will replace any current version of Edge on your machine.

What action will RubensteinTech take and when? Current RubensteinTech clients can request RubensteinTech to perform a full testing audit of the website to find any issues that may be present. Any issues found will be noted and recorded in a report for your review. 

Conducting this review is the best, and recommended, way of ensuring the website works with this new Edge browser. We recommend performing this audit to rectify any potential issues ahead of the public release of the Edge browser. No major issues are anticipated—because your site already supports Google Chrome—it is possible that minor issues could arise due to the nuances of the Edge browser.

What happens if we do nothing? Users that begin using the new Edge browser may experience issues with the website, causing them to be unable to have the intended experience. Without additional review, there is no way to guarantee that this new browser works with your existing website.

For more information on this matter, please visit the following:

—Introducing the new Microsoft Edge
—The Microsoft Edge Features You Should Check Out First
—Google's Chromium browser explained
—Upgrading to the new Microsoft Edge
—Microsoft’s new Edge Chromium browser launches on Windows and macOS