Mozilla CEO Criticizes Microsoft’s Shift To Chromium

Last week there were rumors to suggest that Microsoft could be making the shift to Chromium, the rendering engine that Google uses for its Chrome browser. Microsoft later confirmed it to be true which sounds like a good thing as it means a more consistent web browsing experience across the board.

It could also encourage more users to start using Microsoft’s Edge browser, which at the moment despite the improvements, isn’t quite as widely-used as Microsoft had hoped. However while the advantages are clear, not everyone is thrilled by this, and Mozilla’s CEO Chris Beard is one of them.

In a post on the Mozilla website, Beard basically criticizes Microsoft’s decision to shift to Chromium from EdgeHTML. Beard acknowledges that the move makes good business sense, but also believes that the shift to adopt Chromium means “giving up on the freedom and choice that the internet once offered us”

According to Beard, “From a social, civic and individual empowerment perspective ceding control of fundamental online infrastructure to a single company is terrible. This is why Mozilla exists. We compete with Google not because it’s a good business opportunity. We compete with Google because the health of the internet and online life depend on competition and choice. They depend on consumers being able to decide we want something better and to take action.”

Tyler Lee
Categories: General
Tags: Chrome, edge, Firefox, Google, Microsoft, Mozilla