Goodbye, EdgeHTML

Chris Beard has written about all the drama surrounding Microsoft killing off EdgeHTML and he makes a lot of great points:

Will Microsoft’s decision make it harder for Firefox to prosper? It could. Making Google more powerful is risky on many fronts. And a big part of the answer depends on what the web developers and businesses who create services and websites do. If one product like Chromium has enough market share, then it becomes easier for web developers and businesses to decide not to worry if their services and sites work with anything other than Chromium. That’s what happened when Microsoft had a monopoly on browsers in the early 2000s before Firefox was released. And it could happen again.

If you care about what’s happening with online life today, take another look at Firefox.

I also really like Dave Rupert’s take on this:

Is Firefox in my future? Not sure. But if the idea of a Google-driven Web is of concern to you, then I’d encourage you to use Firefox. And don’t be a passive consumer; blog, tweet, and speak about its killer features. I’ll start: Firefox’s CSS Grid, Flexbox, and Variable Font tools are the best in the business. And Firefox Color is the best thing to happen to browser theming in a decade (my Firefox currently looks like Saved by the Bell). There’s a bigger world beyond Chromium, I encourage you to explore it.

After thinking about it for a couple of days, my take on all this news is a little different and a lot less practical:

tired: looking at all the hubbub about browsers and finally downloading Firefox

wired: realizing that Google should be broken up by the federal govt. because no way in heck should a single company own maps, email, search, and browsers