A web browser on a mission
Tom Resing
Senior Content Designer @ Microsoft focused on content AI and helping others learn
Microsoft's mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. The new Microsoft Edge browser matches that mission in ways the old browsers didn't.
Disclaimer: This post represents my personal perspective.
The new Microsoft Edge series
- Part 1: The browser from Microsoft I've been waiting for
- Part 2: A web browser on a mission (this post)
Microsoft's mission
In 2015, Microsoft's mission was changed. This was shortly after Satya Nadella became only the third CEO in Microsoft's history. Since then, many other changes have been made to align Microsoft's products (and culture) to match. The new Microsoft Edge browser represents one of the latest changes. This change should have a very big impact on Microsoft's ability to achieve it's mission.
From 20% to 98%
The old Microsoft Edge browser was tied directly to Windows 10. It was only available on machines with Windows 10 running on them. Edge updates were tied to updates of Windows 10 itself. For example, to use the early preview, with the codename, Project Spartan, you needed a specific preview release version of Windows 10. That strong tie to one operating system limited the browser's reach. In order to empower every person and every organization, a big change was needed.
The new Microsoft Edge browser is available for download on Android, Windows 10, Windows 7, iOS and MacOS with future support for Linux announced last year.
By creating a new browser that isn't tied to Windows 10, Microsoft has increased availability from 20% of the market to close to 98%. When your mission is to empower every person and every organization, that's a big step in the right direction!