Microsoft’s Pushing More Engineers to Edge
With the re-org dust now starting to settle and as we wait to hear from Microsoft about how they are going to change the path-ahead for Windows, we are starting to see some movement internally that can help us understand how individual teams are being impacted.
I have heard from multiple sources that Microsoft is winding down app development of several of the included applications that ship with Windows 10 like stocks and weather. For the employees who were working on these applications, Microsoft is offering them positions on the Edge team.
In addition to app developers, there may be others who are being pushed towards the Edge platform and they are likely coming from RS5 enhancements that have now been canceled. Microsoft will continue to prioritize enterprise features over those of consumer going forward and this is one small step that they have taken to align with this agenda.
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This not all bad news if you look at what recently happened with Office 365 business features being brought to the consumer SKUs, there is value in this approach for everyone.
What I don’t know is if this will impact the Mail and Calendar apps in Windows 10, those two apps have a higher priority because of their usage at this time. That being said, I’m still hoping we see Microsoft go all-in on PWAs and create an Outlook.com experience so that the web and desktop have the same UI and functionality.
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Bats
<p>Believe me. Like, what I have been saying for the past couple of years, this is the way to go.</p><p>If Microsoft just followed Google with PWAs (about) 2.5 years ago…OR…take the lead on this Windows Phone could've been saved. Like I said last year, alot of the mobile apps are nothing but isolated solo versions of their web counterpart. Therefore it makes sense to bring the web (Edge) from the desktop to Windows Phone and focus solely on that. But, noooooooooooo…..people disagreed with that, because Pope Paul Thurrott was leaning everyone towards the (new) traditional way that was set forth by Apple and Google. </p><p>Just a few minutes ago, using my Pixel 2 XL, I was on the website tvbythenumbers. The site prompted me whether I wanted to experience updates, every now and then. Not just that, there was some kind material design feature on that. </p><p>All in all, the web is not going to be the "new" OS of the future. IT ALREADY IS. It's been like that for (perhaps) the past 10 years. Google knew that and they built on it. Microsoft, again, is late to the party. </p><p>This new era of computing is great and it's going to be extremely interesting to see how Microsoft handles itself in it. They have never been in this position before. For so many years, it's been just them. They never got to play against GIANTS. They were kinda like Rocky (III), beating easier boxers, then came along Clubber Lang. The great thing, this war will never be won by anyone. It's going to be a neverending war that consumers will only win. </p><p>With Microsoft pushing Engineers to Edge tells me that the company (not the firm) is either finally getting it or finally coalescing their technologies together. LOL…this is just great. Stuff like this just makes Chrome and Firefox better. </p><p>This is exciting.</p><p><br></p>
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skane2600
<p>I don't see how focusing on Edge has something to do with prioritizing enterprise features. I suspect that consumers are the primary users of Edge because many just use whatever browser is the default. In the enterprise, browser choice is usually made by more knowledgeable IT folks.</p><p><br></p><p>BTW, there are non-consumer users who wouldn't really qualify as enterprise users either. For example, those who use Windows PCs to control lab equipment. A lot of traditional lab equipment (particularly at the low end) has been replaced with just a minimal board that connects to a PC. </p>
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skane2600
<blockquote><a href="#262009"><em>In reply to hrlngrv:</em></a></blockquote><p>I think the problem is that the kind of features enterprises keep IE around for are precisely the features that MIcrosoft created Edge to eliminate. Among non-IE browsers, Edge has no particular advantage.</p>
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skane2600
<blockquote><a href="#262059"><em>In reply to hrlngrv:</em></a></blockquote><p>Like many of Microsoft's recent developments, I think Edge was based on the idea that Windows was going to be viable on Windows Mobile. They could have just continued on with IE while improving its web standards compatibility or just continued to support a frozen older version that was compatible with legacy enterprise programs if the former option wasn't practical and continue to improve the "new" IE (it's funny to me that web folks were complaining about IE not following standards even at the time when it had over a 90% share – clearly a developer-centric priority over a business-centric one).</p>