Microsoft's Edge browser performs as well as competitors in most tests, sees big improvements in WebGL performance
Examining Microsoft Edge Browser Performance — In what seems like forever ago, Microsoft's Project Spartan was announced at the January 21st event in Redmond.
Context & Ripple Effects
Microsoft built Edge from scratch: the new EdgeHTML rendering engine was written specifically for Project Spartan after the January announcement, replacing the aging Trident codebase. The rollout plan splits the difference — Spartan carries the Edge engine while IE11 keeps Trident for legacy intranet apps, and the browser ships by default on every Windows 10 device.
First-order effects
- Because Edge is the out-of-box default across Windows 10, AnandTech's finding of near-parity with rivals removes the strongest reason new PC buyers had to immediately download another browser.
- Developers targeting modern web graphics get a real second option: the WebGL gains land alongside high-performance asm.js support, making Edge a credible target for game-like and compute-heavy web apps that previously assumed Chrome.
Second-order effects
- With Edge competitive on measured numbers, Google and Mozilla can no longer win comparisons by default — benchmark results become the public scoreboard, raising the bar for every engine release cycle.
- Enterprises running old ActiveX-dependent line-of-business apps are pushed down a forked path: stay on IE11's Trident branch or modernize for Edge, which drops ActiveX entirely.
Third-order effects
- If benchmark parity were enough to sustain a third engine, EdgeHTML would have earned its place — instead Microsoft ultimately moved Edge onto Chromium, evidence that matching rivals on tests does not offset the ecosystem cost of maintaining an independent engine.
- The longer arc points toward consolidation around a handful of engines, with differentiation shifting from raw rendering speed to platform features like Cortana integration and inking that benchmarks cannot capture.
The trend: Browser competition has shifted from compatibility to measured performance and platform integration — and Edge's arc from custom engine to Chromium shows that parity on benchmarks alone could not keep a third rendering engine alive.