There has always been a running joke among gamers that we only open Internet Explorer to install Chrome. While true, Microsoft has put a lot of effort into making their browser relevant.
And this time they might succeed in making us, at least, try it.
It all starts with a name change. They changed their Internet Explorer and name it Edge.
Edge has been introduced with Windows 10 and Xbox One simultaneously in 2015.
It then was ported to Android and iOS.
It started as a proprietary code-based browser, but in the latest revisions was migrated into Chromium-based taking advantage of the benefits that came with the change.
In this article, we will discuss what is making Edge relevant again.
Table of Contents
It’s all about Integration
Microsoft is going beyond just office desktops and gaming rigs. In the later years, and mostly during 2019 until this date, they are trying to create an ecosystem.
But in order to do so, they needed to raise their lesser popular product to the same level as their other lines.
They’ve invested various resources into raising the Xbox brand to their competitor’s level and Phill Spencer, the Xbox director, has been doing a great job so far.
They introduced backward compatibly with previous Xbox generations to expand the console catalog, but the big hit came when Game pass was announced.
Game Pass Ultimate, the Ultimate Weapon
Game Pass is a gaming subscription service where you only pay a monthly fee to access more than one hundred games including all Xbox exclusive at launch day, there’s also a heavy 3rd party support of rotating games. There’s something for everyone.
Xbox supported their console by purchasing many big studios such as Bethesta and Ninja Theory, giving a new home to classics like Fallout and Doom.
The service includes the infamous gold subscription that will let you play online.
Finally, the service was made available to Windows users, with specific PC games.
Xcloud
The next big announcement came with Xcloud. It’s a service that let you stream many of the Xbox Game Pass games to your Android phone and tablet. Xcloud started a bit rough around the edges but with time input lag has been reduced to almost insignificant values and providing a very pleasant experience overall.
Edge to Bring Everything Together
The big question was, will Xcloud arrive PC and Mac? There’s a huge market to explore there since many don’t own a gaming PC and Mac compatibility with games is very limited. The idea of playing in the cloud is very appealing if done well.
Edge was the answer to all that. Edge is tailored to make Xcloud shine as intended, while still in preview status we can already see the potential in the service.
Edge to help Expand the Xbox Family
The Chromium update on Xbox brought a lot to the table. The first noticeable feature is the addition of Java support, which means now you can even play online retro emulators. While this is a grey legal area, the feature is functional.
On top of java, keyboard and mouse support was introduced. This means that you can use your Xbox to surf the web as you would on a desktop.
So, you can also enjoy some games that are not usual to be launched for video consoles. For example, online casino games. Nowadays, exist some providers such as VSO where you can visit and enjoy your favorite slots. If you have already played in a traditional casino, you won’t have any problem enjoying a virtual casino. The way of playing is the same: choose a casino, choose a slot, insert the (virtual coin) and enjoy. There are more than 7000 thousand versions to play and the advantage is that it can be played anyway, given that the games are optimized for playing on different devices such as mobiles.
Going back to Xcloud, the newer version of the browser will allow you to stream games into your console browser which means that you won’t need to upgrade your console if you are on the Xbox one to play the newer Xbox series games or try the games in the cloud before downloading and avoid wait times.
Conclusion
What started as a joke of a browser has migrated into an integration tool that blends together Windows computers, phones, tablets and Xbox consoles. Who knows, we may even see Xcloud running on competitors’ consoles through Edge as well.
While Microsoft still claims that Edge is faster and less power-hungry than Chrome and Safari, it’s not the reason why a most user will look their way. But if they offer integration and have never seen features like Game pass and turning your console into a desktop PC, things start to look more interesting.
