steven36 Posted August 30, 2019 Share Posted August 30, 2019 By Paul Thurrott We already knew that the new, Chromium-based version of Microsoft Edge won’t support the EPUB document format. But Microsoft is also killing support for this format in Edge classic. “Download an .epub app to keep reading,” a notification in Edge classic reads when you load an EPUB document. “Microsoft Edge will no longer be supporting [sic] e-books that use the .epub file extension. Visit the Microsoft Store to see our recommended .epub apps.” Aside from the contorted grammar and word usage in the notification—it’s “support” not “be supporting,” Microsoft—the linked webpage is a “Reading room” area on the Microsoft Store that includes audiobook apps in addition to e-book apps. So good luck with that. Microsoft provides a more grammatically correct explanation for the change on its Microsoft Edge support site, which notes that “Microsoft Edge will no longer support e-books that use the .epub file extension.” The site also links to the same terrible Microsoft Store area, but adds that “you can expect to see more added over time as we partner with companies like the DAISY Consortium to add additional, accessible apps … These apps are expected to be available in the Microsoft Store after September 2019.” Given that, it’s likely that EPUB support will disappear in Edge classic sometime after those apps appear in the Store. As you may recall, Microsoft killed support for e-books in Microsoft Edge (classic) and the Microsoft Store in April, and it started issuing refunds to customers who actually purchased e-books in July. That e-book functionality was based on a protected version of the EPUB document type. But it’s still unclear why Microsoft is killing EPUB in Edge: As is the case with PDF files, Edge is/was a great EPUB reader. Source Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BimBamSmash Posted August 30, 2019 Share Posted August 30, 2019 They are so rushing this all of a sudden. It's like there is a licensing fee involved to bake EPUB support into Edge and they wish to get rid of it fast. Is there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steven36 Posted August 30, 2019 Author Share Posted August 30, 2019 26 minutes ago, BimBamSmash said: They are so rushing this all of a sudden. It's like there is a licensing fee involved to bake EPUB support into Edge and they wish to get rid of it fast. Is there? No it's a open source format. Even most all ebook reader software do .mobi too https://opensource.com/education/15/11/ebook-open-formats Im using Foliate for Linux to read ebooks I use to use Bookworm for like 2 years i was not really crazy about it because ebooks were hard to delete from the library just like im not crazy about using browsers to open up files . https://github.com/johnfactotum/foliate On Windows and Linux you have Calibre its good if you want a viewer and converter but the dev still never updated to python 3 and refuses too and python 2 eol is 4 mths and 1 day https://pythonclock.org/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BimBamSmash Posted August 30, 2019 Share Posted August 30, 2019 12 minutes ago, steven36 said: On Windows and Linux you have Calibre its good if you want a viewer and converter Calibre is indeed very good for cataloging books. I use it extensively. I am still not warming up to its ebook reader component though. Out of the box, the app renders ePubs and MOBI's horrendously - they appear like a several-hundred-pages-long text in Windows notepad. Fortunately the app is heavily customizable, and once options like Line Spacing, Paragraphing, Margins, Text Justification or Page Break is set up, books will look much better. Customization can still take forever to do given how expansive Calibre settings are. One also needs some knowledge of CSS to make some of that happen. 12 minutes ago, steven36 said: but the dev still never updated to python 3 and refuses too and python 2 eol is 4 mths and 1 day https://pythonclock.org/ Calibre dev still keeps "Calibre2" as the default install folder during setup too. And that app is into version 3.47 right about now. Personally, all I care about is for Calibre to remain functional. The rest I can live with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7even Posted August 30, 2019 Share Posted August 30, 2019 Foliate looks awesome. Too bad it's for Linux only. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhjohns Posted August 30, 2019 Share Posted August 30, 2019 11 hours ago, steven36 said: Aside from the contorted grammar and word usage in the notification—it’s “support” not “be supporting,” Although "support" is more direct, "be supporting" is also grammatically correct. "Be supporting" is passive but not preferred. Other than that it is perfectly OK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
halvgris Posted August 30, 2019 Share Posted August 30, 2019 when did microsoft surprise us with something we wanted? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karlston Posted August 30, 2019 Share Posted August 30, 2019 1 hour ago, halvgris said: when did microsoft surprise us with something we wanted? 2013, Windows 8.1, when they added the missing Start Menu and stopped booting desktops/laptops into Tablet mode. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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