What a strange time we live in. Who would have thought that I would write an article about how Microsoft is the best thing to happen to Google Chrome? A few years ago, the idea of Microsoft getting involved in an open source project would cause a mixture of laughter and fear. You know... Microsoft, the open source foe had a CEO who once said that Linux was "a cancer that attacks in the intellectual property sense everything it touches". The company that couldn't make a decent web browser to save your life. But believe it or not, I truly believe that Microsoft's involvement has made Chrome a much better browser.
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(Image credit: Pixabay)
Learn to love open source
First, Microsoft dropped its antipathy to open source a long time ago, and is now a platinum supporter of the Linux Foundation, and to some extent, it's also the world's largest open source contributor. Basically, since giving up your opposition to open source, not just embracing it, but putting your money where it's at, the idea of Microsoft participating in an open source project is no longer the stuff of nightmares. He has already proven to be a valuable contributor to the open source community. But how does this affect the Google Chrome browser? Well, since Microsoft stopped using its own web engine, EdgeHTML, for its Edge web browser, and instead created a completely new version based on Chromium, it has provided a constant stream of fixes and new features for Chromium - and these are not they are only for Edge, but also for Chrome. The latest example of this is that Microsoft has finally fixed an issue where notifications for Chrome were duplicated in Windows 10, and clicking the wrong one would not open the website that sent the notification in Chrome. It did the impressive feat of being boring and unnecessary. However, Microsoft has submitted code to the Chromium project that fixes the issue. While Microsoft is fixing a problem affecting its operating system, it's not too surprising, but there have been a number of other instances where Microsoft has made Chrome a better browser with its input.
A hand
I've already complained about how sick I am of Chrome being huge RAM RAM, and Microsoft has found a way to stop it from gulping up so much memory, while draining less battery when running on a laptop, avoiding unnecessary caching of the disk when users watch videos. A Microsoft developer has also recently fixed a particularly annoying quirk in Google Chrome that can accidentally cause you to lose your current tab. And there are many other examples. Granted, all of these fixes were primarily aimed at classifying Chromium Edge, but the important thing is that they also improve a web browser that people actually use. For anyone frustrated with Google's handling of Chrome, the fact that Microsoft is making improvements to the browser is a strange but welcome development. I never thought of celebrating Microsoft's participation in an open source project, but in this case, I'm very happy to do so.