(This is a generalization; Goog certainly owns access to plenty of input: email, docs, and hosting. But it is not, I think, on the scale of FB, because frequent, casual input requires a social context.)
Google's nightmare scenario is that everyone starts to use FB Pages for content, FB ads for that content, and something FB payments to pay for services, etc. In this way FB manages to build a private (but very large) vertically integrated internet. Like Alibaba. There are only three ways to disrupt this trend: the browser, the operating system, and the hardware. Each of these mediates between FB and the user, and each one is Google's opportunity to capture attention. (And this, I think, is why engineering talent is so valuable, just as much to deny FB from making things as to make things yourself.)
The nightmare scenario for the open internet is a Facebook Phone running Facebook OS.
Then there's things like adding DRM, a user hostile "feature" google shoved down our throats. Visit netflix on a linux box and you'll discover that "works with chrome" is the new "works with IE".
Edge is a decent browser, but Microsoft was not kind nor to be trusted back then. They have to earn their new trust.
On the open-source front we now have several great browsers - Safari/Webkit (which is very strong on mobile), Chrome/Blink (was Webkit) which dominates, and Firefox/Gecko which is a solid reliable browser thats crossplatform.
Why should anyone choose Edge?
The rest I'm not really sure that there is much benefit to it save the UI lag fix. The oft-tossed about technical debt is incredibly real with Microsoft's browsers, and I believe a lot of the debt that IE had was inherited by Edge to ensure a transition for Microsoft's clientele relying on the IE support for their sites.
Unless Microsoft wants to branch into having a "business browser" and a "consumer browser", they can't give users a clean and non-burdened version of a Microsoft Internet Browser. I really doubt they're going to want to deal with the headache of splitting the focus to two versions. They can make all the changes they want public facing, but as long as they have a sacrosanct part of the browser that can't be altered or removed, they're destined to be an afterthought if a thought at all.
p.s. when the page loads in Edge its actually quite fast and scrolling feels smoother than other browsers - but the initial delay breaks the whole experience for me.
- the search / address box are not obviously that until you click on it
- the window bar area to click on and drag the window around is small and not obvious
Not major things but it makes it less intuitive to use than chrome in my opinion.
Using basic functionality of a browser (opening multiple tabs at a time) is an edge case? Every person I know that uses Chrome has at least 5-10 tabs open at a time. I wouldn't call it an edge case, but I would guess that the minority uses less than 3-4 tabs at a time.
