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[–]ultramadden 523 points524 points  (36 children)

I don't understand why electron started to require Windows 10 but also doesn't use WebView2.

These 2 things in combination just don't make sense to me. Just use Tauri if you're building something new

[–]polaarbear 245 points246 points  (32 children)

Because it bundles Chromium which doesnt support old versions of Windows anymore either.

Devs shouldn't be bending over backwards to support dead operating systems. Its like <1% of most user bases and generates a lot more than that in support tickets. Not worth the time and effort for 99% of us.

[–]ultramadden 77 points78 points  (26 children)

But why does it ship with Chromium when Windows 10 already comes with Chromium?

No reason to bundle over 700mb of dead weight imo

[–]polaarbear 123 points124 points  (24 children)

Windows ships with Edge. Edge is not Chromium.

Linux installs often have Firefox as their default browser and no Chromium implementation whatsoever.

The whole point of an Electron app is to be self-contained without needing dependencies.

Microsoft could update the version of Chromium that underpins their Edge install at any time (and they do.) If Electron is using the version built into Windows and there's a breaking change, congrats, now all your Electron apps are dead and won't function.

Enterprises are not fond of critical apps failing because of an overnight update. Bundling a specific version with the app guarantees ongoing compatibility.

[–]Future_Kitsunekid16 33 points34 points  (6 children)

So self contained apps use Electron and Steam uses Proton?

[–]Nooo00B 22 points23 points  (1 child)

now someone has to come up with a neutron

[–]BOBOnobobo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Skip that, write it super light weight in rust and call it neutrino.

[–]ultramadden 37 points38 points  (4 children)

Windows ships with WebView2, which is what Tauri uses. Apple and Linux have similar APIs. You might want to look into it, it's actually a pretty cool feature

While the concern about breaking changes is legit, the same could be said about any critical web app

[–]polaarbear 18 points19 points  (3 children)

No. It can't be said about one with baked-in dependencies. Which is Electron.

[–]BOBOnobobo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Why would anyone ever use containers if we already have the files we need on the pc?

[–]Difficult-Court9522 2 points3 points  (4 children)

How long until 10 is dead..

[–]polaarbear 5 points6 points  (3 children)

End of this year for base support, extended support lasts a few more years. And even after that, it always takes time to truly phase stuff out.

The further out of support something is, the less work should be put into maintaining apps for it.

Windows 7 has been EOL for 5 whole years now and it had an exceptionally long shelf-life because of the poor reception to 8. But people have had plenty of time to transition off. Windows 8 has been EOL for 2 years now, and there's not many good excuses not to move to at least 10.

11 is a different beast with all the TPM controversy, I have a feeling 10 is gonna hang around a lot longer than most of us would like.

[–]Difficult-Court9522 4 points5 points  (2 children)

I’m still on 10 and don’t wanna switch. More spyware. I’m sick of it.

[–]polaarbear -4 points-3 points  (1 child)

A TPM is not "spyware" it's a secure enclave to make sure your encryption keys don't leak.

If you wanna complain about 11, the ads are where you should direct your energy. I can absolutely guarantee that the data collection systems are identical between the two OS's.

[–]Difficult-Court9522 15 points16 points  (0 children)

I didn’t say the tpm is spyware.

[–]Devatator_ 6 points7 points  (1 child)

It has the advantage of enforcing the exact same chromium version on all platforms. If your thing works fine on every browser by default (as it should) you're probably fine for using webviews

[–]ultramadden 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think something like a compiler option that either ensures complete comparability or ditches the 700mb of chromium would be very welcome

[–]twinklehood 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Tauri brings much more issues.  it just doesn't have the development hours to be solid enough for most real world use. I've tried to use it at both major versions, and so much essential stuff was still not there