The refreshed Microsoft Edge web browser is based on the Chromium open source project that is the foundation of Google Chrome and other browsers like Opera and Amazon Silk. Chrome was released in 2008 and Google has added many proprietary features to the open source Chromium browser over the years. The innovations in Chrome allowed it became the dominant web browser. At the end of 2019 Google Chrome had a 65% market share.
Microsoft Internet Explorer was dominant web browser during the early internet with their Internet Explorer. Released in 1995 the browser's popularity peaked in 2003 with 95% of the market. Usage declined with the release of Mozilla's Firefox and Chrome. In 2020 Internet Explorer is still around but new features aren't being developed and support for the product is provided to enterprise customers only.
In 2015 Microsoft released a new web browser called Edge but the browser never gained mass popular acceptance. Microsoft needed a change if it wanted to gain share in browser usage. Early 2020 Microsoft released a completely new Edge browser based on Google's open source Chromium. The browser has significant performance improvements compared to Internet Explorer and the previous versions of Edge and is comparable to Chrome. The browser has gained some converts although is far behind Chrome, Firefox and Apple Safari.
There are versions Edge for Windows 7, 8, 8.1 and 10. Look for the distinctive swirling icon on your Desktop or Start Menu. Can't find it? Download Edge from the Microsoft website.
