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So How Good Is Edge on Linux? (zdnet.com) 52

Posted by EditorDavid from the browser-benchmarks dept.
"No one asked Microsoft to port its Edge browser to Linux," writes Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols at ZDNet, adding "Indeed, very few people asked for Edge on Windows.

"But, here it is. So, how good — or not — is it..?" The new release comes ready to run on Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, and openSUSE Linux distributions... Since I've been benchmarking web browsers since Mosaic rolled off the bit assembly line, I benchmarked the first Edge browser and Chrome 86 and Firefox 81 on my main Linux production PC.... First up: JetStream 2.0, which is made up of 64 smaller tests. This JavaScript and WebAssembly benchmark suite focuses on advanced web applications. It rewards browsers that start up quickly, execute code quickly, and run smoothly. Higher scores are better on this benchmark.

JetStream's top-scorer — drumroll please — was Edge with 136.971. But, right behind it within the margin of error, was Chrome with a score of 132.413. This isn't too surprising. They are, after all, built on the same platform. Back in the back was Firefox with 102.131. Next up: Kraken 1.1. This benchmark, which is based on the long-obsolete SunSpider, measures JavaScript performance. To this basic JavaScript testing, it added typical use-case scenarios. Mozilla, Firefox's parent organization, created Kraken. With this benchmark, the lower the score, the better the result. To no great surprise, Firefox took first place here with 810.1 milliseconds (ms). Following it was Chrome with 904.5ms and then Edge with 958.8ms.

The latest version of WebXPRT is today's best browser benchmark. It's produced by the benchmark professionals at Principled Technology. This company's executives were the founders of the Ziff Davis Benchmark Operation, the gold-standard of PC benchmarking. WebXPRT uses scenarios created to mirror everyday tasks. These include Photo Enhancement, Organize Album, Stock Option Pricing, Local Notes, Sales Graphs, and DNA Sequencing. Here, the higher the score, the better the browser. On this benchmark, Firefox shines. It was an easy winner with a score of 272. Chrome edges out Edge 233 to 230.
The article concludes that "Oddly, Edge, which turned in a poor performance when I recently benchmarked it on Windows, did well on Linux. Who'd have guessed...? Edge is a good, fast browser on Linux. If you're a Windows user coming over to Linux or you're doing development work aimed at Edge, then by all means try Edge on Linux. It works and it works well."

Yet Vaughan-Nichols admits he's still not going to switch to Edge. "Chrome is more than fast enough for my purposes and I don't want my information tied into the Microsoft ecosystem. For better or worse, mine's already locked into the Googleverse and I can live with that."
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.

So How Good Is Edge on Linux? More

So How Good Is Edge on Linux?

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  • As good as on Windows (Score:3, Funny)

    by nospam007 ( 722110 ) * on Sunday October 25, 2020 @08:35AM (#60646038)

    Horrible!

  • That is like asking Hannibal Lecter show baby brain tastes, warm, still in the baby... and if the sauce of baby tears and santorum fits it well.

    How fucked-up is you mind, that you did even get there?
    From completely behind the moony nonetheless!
    It is, frankly, amazing!

    • It was supposed to be "... how baby brain ..." ... but I take it! As they say: Show! Don't tell.

    • Let's all have a race in our cars! But first, let's strap another car on top, upside down, with the top guy doing the steering. Overhead. The wrong way around!

      That is how JS/browser speed tests feel like.
      Except less funny.
      Perhaps like the Paralympics. But more stern. And solemn. And everything styled in Silicon Valley stressor-hipster design and "stylish" Depression Gray Melange (Hey, it's the color of the decade!).

  • Really, If people actually read this they have to be thinking, "Duh, I do this every day. Yep. that's a good test." To quote: "The latest version of WebXPRT is today's best browser benchmark. It's produced by the benchmark professionals ... WebXPRT uses scenarios created to mirror everyday tasks. These include Photo Enhancement, Organize Album, Stock Option Pricing, Local Notes, Sales Graphs, and DNA Sequencing. Emphasis on "created to mirror everyday tasks." For a web browser test are these even a cons

    • Right?

      Obviously, you would first boot Windows inside that browser to do that real work.

      In a browser, launched inside of it, of course.

      -- WhatWG.

      But written in VBA, running on MS Office!

      -- VirtuDyne [thedailywtf.com]

  • My first thought was 'Who cares?' (Score:4, Interesting)

    by jenningsthecat ( 1525947 ) on Sunday October 25, 2020 @08:52AM (#60646102)

    But then I asked myself who in Linux might have a reason to use and push Edge, and I came up with Red Hat. I can see them adopting a browser that doesn't rely on the amateur-night shit-show that Firefox development has become; and I can imagine that they might want to distance themselves from Google's privacy-shredding ways.

    Whether it's deserved or not, (and I rather think it's not), Microsoft has acquired a reputation for sanity and sensibility in some circles. Also, they seem to have adopted Linux compatibility as their new pet project. And I see cultural similarities between Microsoft and the organization that, for better or worse depending on your viewpoint, created systemd and made it nearly ubiquitous in a very short period of time.

    • I'm kinda exctied about using a chrome based browser without the toxic information leakage to google. Yeah I know I could probably use chromium but I don't like to use broswers that are not backed by proven developer bases with a dedication to security and prompt patching.

      I prefer firefox above all other browsers, I like it philosophically and I like it's style and it's ecosystem of plugins and I like that it is notionally fighting tracking. But episodically over the decades I switch away from it because

    • Embrace and extend (Score:5, Interesting)

      by goombah99 ( 560566 ) on Sunday October 25, 2020 @10:15AM (#60646376)

      I lived through the "embrace and extend" period of Microsoft breaking the internet with internet explorer and every other standard they could munge.

      But these days, it's google that is making the internet squeal like a pig. Their fast loading page system is forcing everyone to use URLS that load from google, and they are doing all kinds of things where you have to load gears and cogs from google to make a page work.

      Their move to erase URLs from the URL bar is a poster child for the underlying embrace and extend philosophy at work.

      The only thing worse than google is facebooks pages that don't even have links that work unless you are logged into.

      So it's amusing to me to see that Microsoft has apparently decided to be the good corporate netizen. I have an innate mistrust of Mocrosoft but my rage at google and facebook is softening that. We need someone to stand up to that and microsoft is big enough. I also like the way that Apple is breaking facebook's ad based models by increasing user privacy.

      So go Apple! Go Microsoft!

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by I75BJC ( 4590021 )
      you wrote: "Google's privacy-shredding ways"

      Huh?
      You think that M$ protects user privacy?

      BTW, I have some waterfront property in Florida that might interest you. Wanna buy it?

      • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

        by jenningsthecat ( 1525947 )

        you wrote: "Google's privacy-shredding ways" Huh? You think that M$ protects user privacy?

        No, but I think Google has a reputation even among average citizens for selling personal data - after all, Google is an advertising company. Not many outside the tech community associate MS with collecting and selling personal data.

    • and I can imagine that they might want to distance themselves from Google's privacy-shredding ways.

      So they can embrace Microsoft's privacy-shedding ways? This makes no sense.

    • I explain it to you.
      Edge is not a web browser. It is a white rectangle on the screen. Regardless what you do with it, it is a jut a set of rectangles with different shade of white.
      Certainly, you will now try to correct me, and claim: different shades of white do not exist. It is called 50 shades of grey or different shades of grey.
      But honestly the idea of that browser is that you have a 100% white background with "buttons" that are 98% "white" and have a border that is 97% white and have a grey text in it.
      S

  • Wow (Score:4, Insightful)

    by jjaa ( 2041170 ) on Sunday October 25, 2020 @08:57AM (#60646124)
    Should have "product placement" right on it. And not of Edge - of the benchmark...

  • No idea (Score:3)

    by hcs_$reboot ( 1536101 ) on Sunday October 25, 2020 @09:01AM (#60646152)
    I'll never know, unless Linux installs it on my behalf.

  • Someone might have guessed (Score:5, Funny)

    by John.Banister ( 1291556 ) * on Sunday October 25, 2020 @09:12AM (#60646178) Homepage

    "Oddly, Edge, which turned in a poor performance when I recently benchmarked it on Windows, did well on Linux.

    So, the thing slowing down Edge on Windows is... Windows.

    Who'd have guessed...?

  • For Office on Linux and the rumoured Windows based on the Linux kernel. Even though they are not likely to happen we still have a precedent for Microsoft supporting more Linux based software.

    • >"For Office on Linux and the rumoured Windows based on the Linux kernel. Even though they are not likely to happen we still have a precedent for Microsoft supporting more Linux based software."

      As far as web apps go, if they code to actual web standards, it shouldn't matter which browser you use. If it does, what they are doing is BROKEN and welcome to the new "IE-Only" era. This is already starting with Chrom* and it is a horrible direction.

      • if they code to actual web standards, it shouldn't matter which browser you use. If it does, what they are doing is BROKEN and welcome to the new "IE-Only" era.

        For example, visiting Skype for Web in Firefox produces an error message that it requires Microsoft Edge.

        • >"For example, visiting Skype for Web in Firefox produces an error message that it requires Microsoft Edge."

          That is actually a perfect example. It is Chrom*-only and probably for no good reason. Quite frankly, given their two market positions (Microsoft and Google), this is an ideal example to place in front of anti-monopoly commissions.

    • I found a big toe in the door, at least, and was surprised to find it. When my university moved to online teaching in March, using MS Teams, I thought I was going to have lots of trouble, since I only run linux. To my enormous surprise, there was a Teams version for Linux, which worked pretty well, and a more recent update of it, which works really well. It even allows for video4linux virtual cameras (so I can do some marginally fancy camera work, e.g., split screens, using OSB Studio).

      Best wishes,
      Bob

  • Neither (Score:3)

    by markdavis ( 642305 ) on Sunday October 25, 2020 @09:24AM (#60646204)

    >"I don't want my information tied into the Microsoft ecosystem. For better or worse, mine's already locked into the Googleverse and I can live with that."

    You don't have to be locked in to or live with either. If you actually value choice, privacy, security, performance, and standards, there is an alternative.

    https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/... [mozilla.org]

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by ludux ( 6308946 )
      Given how Firefox is shitting themselves trying to pretend they're Chrome, that's not really nearly as true as it used to be, and in some ways they're actually a lot worse.

  • Ad-Block? (Score:3)

    by VendettaMF ( 629699 ) on Sunday October 25, 2020 @09:25AM (#60646210) Homepage

    The summary, at least, is missing the one and only question of value about browsers (beyond basic functionality). Does effective ad, script, cookie and tracker-dot/sound blocking exist, and is it independently verifiable?

    Nothing else matters.

  • Firefox hater? (Score:5, Informative)

    by marcle ( 1575627 ) on Sunday October 25, 2020 @09:33AM (#60646236)

    Firefox does quite well in the benchmarks, yet the author seems to think his only choice is between Edge and Chrome, and he picks Chrome while acknowledging Google's intrusiveness. Were it me armed with the same information he shares with us, I would say skip both of the data suckers and go with the best privacy.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Teun ( 17872 )
      Indeed, good observation.
      I too prefer Firefox, for one because it just works
      Yes it has a problem not releasing memory when a tab is closed but it's quickly remedied by restarting the browser.
    • Me personally ... at this point a browser is a toaster and Edge is the only generic web browser that *pays you to use it*. I get around $60 per year in Bing points having it installed on home PC, work PC, and phone. I use the points for free Xbox Live in the family room mostly to run Netflix, Amazon, etc. for wife/kids. https://www.microsoft.com/en-u... [microsoft.com]

  • ... how can it be any good on Linux?

  • On a desktop of laptop, its been a long time since browser speed was an issue. I'd think security and ability to correctly display all web pages is a much more important measure.

  • It's more important the it's there I think. (Score:3)

    by brainchill ( 611679 ) on Sunday October 25, 2020 @12:32PM (#60646922)
    More than quibbling over how good it is or why it's there I think it is a sign of some good/cool things happening for the linux desktop. After being on this train now for 20+ years it makes me happy to see companies like Microsoft, whose relationship with linux has been largely adversarial, porting actual desktop software to run on the platform. To me it's a sign that they've acknowledged that it's not going away so they are going to make an effort to leverage the platform financially. I'm excited to use a current Microsoft Office on a linux desktop some day .... pretending like the open source office suites are "just as good" isn't doing anyone any favors.

    • Corporations are not your friends.

      They are there only to make money for their shareholders. Remember this. 20 years ago as an early slashdotter I was in love with Apple and thought Steve Jobs was our friend and used to be cool here when Macosx was new. He was being it to Intel and we could have a friendly cheap Unix and something we could hack on commodity hardware and be muuuch more tamer than Microsoft. I mean who could be worse??

      Boy was I wrong. I almost bought an imac expecting the ability to change out

      • I guess Iâ(TM)m glad that I was never a naive as you? I never suggested, even for a moment, that corporations were your friends or that you should lock yourself down to their ecosystem. The only thing close to that that I said is that even after more than a dozen years of development Microsoft office is still far better than the open source alternatives and that having companies making mainstream desktop applications available on Linux is a good thing.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by JustNiz ( 692889 )

      > To me it's a sign that they've acknowledged that it's not going away

      They're almost certainly just still doing the embrace/extend/extinguish thing

  • In most cases Chrome or Firefox are fast enough, although individual situations can differ (e.g. depending on hardware, add-ons, background workload).

    But the really important thing is compatibility, especially for in-house apps; developers don't like having to test their work across browsers, and IT departments unlike online services can dictate what their customers use. Most IT departments are using a Microsoft development and server stack that makes it easy to target Microsoft browsers.

    I wonder if Microsoft is anticipating a future problems with their desktop OS monopoly? Smartphones have already made the desktop monopoly less important, and Edge is already available in the Google Play store for Android and in the Apple Store for the iPhone. If you were expecting further erosion of your desktop monopoly power, you might try to leverage that into the browser space while you still can.

  • The reason someone would use Edge would be a boring locked down corporate environment where you can push GPO on Active Directory for things like favorites, legacy IE mode for ancient web apps in a custom white list, default home page, etc.

    Outside of this I do not see a value for a typical slashdotter on Linux to run this. Just use Chrome if you want a modern fast engine or Firefox if you don't mind a few quirks but value your privacy.

  • Given that Edge and Chrome derive from the same base, it's not terribly surprising that their performance characteristics are similar. This would have been more interesting if Edge had been an original browser engine.

  • No one cares about Edge's performance. They care about being able to use sites that for some forsaken reason REQUIRE Edge.

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