After installing the latest W10 update (this time without the usual associated multi-reboot drama, luckily) I see that finally, Windows has a decent, capable browser that is fast, secure and compatible with modern standards. The only small wrinkle in this glossy picture is that said browser no longer comes completely from Microsoft, but is really a kind of Google's Chrome fork.
Leaving aside the discussion on how much content on the latest Edge update is coming from Microsoft vs. Google, anyone that lived the "browser wars" at the end of the previous century can't help but shake his/her head thinking about what just happened. Microsoft, one of the largest talent pools in software development in the world, has gave up after five years of trying to create a browser that was competitive with Chrome and FF, unable to keep up on the development of what was in the past one of the key componentes of a desktop computer: one that is the gateway to most, if not all, content consumed on the computer. The very same web browser that in the past was a key piece of technology and an avenue to introduce new technologies and control the user experience. The subject of a federal investigation on monopoly abuse.
Yes, that desktop browser. Today, it has become irrelevant. And this change signals that Microsoft, this time for real, is changing. No longer trying to be the king of the hill for all hills under the sun, they finally seem to be focused on a few things that look like a reasonable long-term bet: milking your cash cows (Office, mainly), sell services instead of products (same thing, different name, subscription model) and offer a seamless integration of your legacy server estate with reasonable cloud offerings seems to be a much safer an stable revenue source. No more attempts to be more Apple-y than Apple, more Google-y than Google, no more desktop changes trying to apple-ize or google-ize the Windows desktop, no more XBox (yes, that will happen), no more Windows Phone, no more Bings, no more Cortanas...
If any, this should send a signal to the other big IT companies: they are all now old enough and mature that it is time to end dispersion and focus on a few things that can work on the long term. The pace of innovation is settling down. In a sense, Google is already doing that with their Alphabet split, but they are not on the same level: I do not see Google's adopting a piece of MS software for a key system component happening.
Who knows, let's wait another decade and see what happens.
