Long time technology enthusiast and journalist Joanna Stern recently reported about her purge of Google’s Chrome web browser from her MacBook and her venture into a Safari and Edge-only existence. Why should long time Windows users be concerned with this news? Well, honestly, they shouldn’t. However, Stern’s announcement is signaling that even the staunchest Microsoft critics are coming around to its new web browser on platforms beyond Windows.
In a lengthy but entertaining op-ed on the Wall Street Journal, Stern covers the impetus of her move away from Chrome as a way to help novice Internet users address several potential issues their previous browsing choices may have had on their overall computing experience. Chief among Stern’s complaints about Chrome is its rampant misuse of RAM resources, battery performance, and overall privacy options (or lack thereof). In a four-part breakdown, Stern guides her audience through ways to address and stop Chrome from “slowing down” their computers. And obviously, the first step is to stop using Google’s browser.
I did it, everyone! I left Chrome for Safari! AND Microsoft Edge! 🤯 My column and video on why it is time for us all to leave Chrome https://t.co/CDYqm7Jj8w
— Joanna Stern (@JoannaStern) July 12, 2020
Stern acknowledges Chrome’s dominant market share as evidence that Chrome works for most people, but quickly pivots to highlighting the underlying technology in Microsoft Edge as a potential counter-argument to folks that may question compatibility. Going further, Stern breaks down the performance gains Edge and Safari hold on a MacBook over the current industry leader, which includes Edge’s 5% and Safari’s 10% reduction in RAM usage leading to almost two-full hours of additional battery time on her device.
For those unwilling or unable to move away from Chrome for other reasons, Stern also offers three more management tips within Chrome to make the user experience more bearable. Tips 2 through 4 include uninstalling extensions, killing RAM gobbling tabs, and limiting browser-based video chats.
While Stern is realistic about the number of people in her audience that may actually follow her lead, her overall message should be promising to Microsoft and its Edge engineers. A growing chorus of journalists are proclaiming that Apple’s macOS has seemingly ousted Windows 10 somehow with Big Sur, but Microsoft’s potential counterpoint could soon become that its Edge browser can act as an embedded user platform within macOS for some. The work on the new Chromium-based Microsoft Edge is proving to be sought after even beyond the Windows ecosystem.
