Every article tag can be clicked to get a list of all articles in that category. Every article tag also has an RSS feed! You can customize an RSS feed too!
We do often include affiliate links to earn us some pennies. See more here.

Microsoft Edge comes to Linux in October as a preview

By - | Views: 35,828

That's right, no need to wipe your glasses as that's a real headline here. Microsoft are bringing their Microsoft Edge browser to Linux in October.

Not a huge surprise, as this was already confirmed previously but having a launch month is the next step. Writing on the Windows Experience Blog, Liat Ben-Zur, Corporate Vice President confirmed the Linux launch plan:

Our mission to bring Microsoft Edge to the platforms our customers use daily takes its next step: starting in October, Microsoft Edge on Linux will be available to download on the Dev preview channel. When it’s available, Linux users can go to the Microsoft Edge Insiders site to download the preview channel, or they can download it from the native Linux package manager. And just like other platforms, we always appreciate feedback—it’s the best way to serve our customers.

What's not entirely clear is what they mean by the native Linux package manager, since there's a few. Most likely though, since they (like a lot of others) target Ubuntu directly, they might mean the Snap Store.

All of this is as Microsoft appear to continue treating Linux less like a hostile target, and more like something to take advantage of themselves. Linux has ended up being a big part of Microsoft, from integrating it into Windows with Windows Subsystem for Linux and Linux is a popular and supported choice by Microsoft on their cloud Azure platform too. Heck, they even admitted they were 'on the wrong side of history when open source exploded'.

It's going to be a bit of a hot topic, and I'm sort of dreading asking this because the comments will be quite colourful but here we go anyway: will you use it and what do you think of Microsoft getting certain applications on Linux?

Personally, I am all for it. A key part of the computing experience is having access to the applications you like and want to use, even if it's a browser with a few key differences - it all adds up. The more Linux gets, the better.

Note: this is actually not the first modern Microsoft application to arrive on Linux, as Microsoft Teams became available on Linux late last year. There's also Visual Studio Code and Skype too which have been on Linux for some time now.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
15 Likes
About the author -
author picture
I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly came back to check on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly. Find me on Mastodon.
See more from me
The comments on this article are closed.
57 comments
Page: «5/6»
  Go to:

WJMazepas Sep 22, 2020
Quoting: BielFPs
Quoting: WJMazepasA lot of government websites from my country requires Internet Explorer so if this makes possible to access then with my Linux machine, i will be really happy

Brazilian?

Hell yeah my dude
awesam Sep 23, 2020
Quoting: peta77
Quoting: AwesamLinuxI believe the main purpose of this browser is to ensure that the Office 365 suite has a browser they can test against, and guarantee the service works with. Large enterprise customers demand solutions that are cross-platform as they have often mixed environments. So the browser could perhaps be a good thing, maybe a sign of Microsoft moving towards providing platform agnostic services/software rather than forcing Windows down everyone's throats
office 365 works without any problems with firefox on linux... we have it at work and i didn't have any problems yet (ok, i still use thunderbird and libreoffice most of the time)...

but maybe they intend to add additional stuff which then only will work with their browser but they don't want to anger the linux business users; they can then just say: "use our browser, it's also available on linux, everything else is rubbish anyway"... that would be the pessimistic outlook...

I have Office 365 at work too and not encountered any major issues on Firefox, except unusually poor performance in some circumstances, not doing anything particularly advanced with Office 365 though. I bet there are edge cases considering the monstrous Excel and Word documents some people produce. From a support perspective, I can see the value for Microsoft to have their own browser even on Linux. Whenever there is a problem, they can just refer to trying their browser and verify if things work there.

I have used Google Apps much more than Office 365, and have encountered lots of minor issues using any browsers other than Chrome. Including Chromium based ones, so even though everyone should be following established web standards the reality appears to be different . In a perfect world though everything should work just fine in any browser
TheSHEEEP Sep 23, 2020
View PC info
  • Supporter Plus
Interesting - though I'm way too dependent on a whole bunch of Chrome plugins and its syncing to do any Browser switch.
Chrome would have to somewhat collapse for me to take the time to switch browsers - last time that happened, it was Firefox that collapsed, forcing me to switch to Chrome.
Corben Sep 23, 2020
Though Microsoft is less hostile towards Linux, and even support Linux with quite some software now... it's all productive software. Right out of the top of my head, I can't come up with entertainment software. Like games. At least they don't block it that much, e.g. with the Halo Master Chief Collection, where they allow to start it without EAC. Not sure if this is a commitment for Proton users, but it's something that doesn't exclude Linux users. We'll have to see, what their recent acquirement of Bethesda/Zenimax will have for consequences. Especially for us gamers.

As I'm working in the Web development area, I'll give Edge on Linux a shot for sure, I also have Chrome, Chromium, Opera and Vivaldi installed. But my daily driver will remain Firefox.
Phlebiac Sep 23, 2020
Quoting: AwesamLinuxI can see the value for Microsoft to have their own browser even on Linux. Whenever there is a problem, they can just refer to trying their browser and verify if things work there.

I have used Google Apps much more than Office 365, and have encountered lots of minor issues using any browsers other than Chrome. Including Chromium based ones, so even though everyone should be following established web standards the reality appears to be different . In a perfect world though everything should work just fine in any browser

The problem is that Google intentionally hinders other browsers; for example, YouTube is using deprecated HTML which other browsers don't support, just to make the experience there slightly worse on browsers other than Chrome. I wouldn't trust Microsoft not to start doing the same for Edge.
fisch02 Sep 23, 2020
They already have an empty apt repo here
Arehandoro Sep 23, 2020
Quoting: peta77office 365 works without any problems with firefox on linux... we have it at work and i didn't have any problems yet (ok, i still use thunderbird and libreoffice most of the time)...

Not all the options in the O365 apps are available on the web version though.

Quoting: Kimyrielle
Quoting: x_wingWake me up when they release office.

Unlikely. MS wants everybody to use Office 365 anyway, and is very likely to make local versions less and less desirable over time, until the elbowed everybody into their cloud. The last thing they're likely going to do is add new platforms to stand-alone office.

Not necessarily. Office 365 can also be self-hosted, and even included with Nextcloud. Granted, this is the backend service for their cloud but I can easily imagine a flatpak/snap/docker version of O365 might be released for Linux.
Valck Sep 23, 2020
Not in the mood for a constructive comment right now, but since you asked: Over my dead body.

I can agree that MS does appear to be less hostile these days, but what those words mean, if you take a moment to think about them, is: it is hostile, only less so. I mean nobody really buys that "we <3 Linux" crap, right?
I may appear a bit less hostile towards MS, too, these days, or maybe I don't.

That aside, I don't see any reason at all to welcome the choice of another browser built on (quick reminder: Google's, Facebook's, Microsoft's, Opera's, Adobe's, ...) Chromium engine.
brokeassben Sep 23, 2020
Currently watching the Microsoft Ignite conference and one of the people speaking has a Tux figurine in their home office and I've heard Linux mentioned at least a dozen times so far. What world is this???
Purple Library Guy Sep 23, 2020
Quoting: PhlebiacThe problem is that Google intentionally hinders other browsers; for example, YouTube is using deprecated HTML which other browsers don't support, just to make the experience there slightly worse on browsers other than Chrome. I wouldn't trust Microsoft not to start doing the same for Edge.
Now that's an old song. Remember when Microsoft Internet Exploder used to pull exactly that kind of crap? The more things change . . .
While you're here, please consider supporting GamingOnLinux on:

Reward Tiers: Patreon. Plain Donations: PayPal.

This ensures all of our main content remains totally free for everyone! Patreon supporters can also remove all adverts and sponsors! Supporting us helps bring good, fresh content. Without your continued support, we simply could not continue!

You can find even more ways to support us on this dedicated page any time. If you already are, thank you!
The comments on this article are closed.