Since 2015 the Edge browser has been available on Windows 10. It was released as an eventual replacement for Internet Explorer & as a challenge to existing browsers such as Chrome, Firefox & Opera.
A recent tweak to the new Microsoft Edge, saw it being renamed “Edge Legacy”. The latter was based on Microsoft’s proprietary in-house EdgeHTML engine, but it failed to find general favor with the Web browsing public at large.
The very latest version known as “Microsoft Edge” is based on Chromium, the same open-source code that many other modern browsers use, including Google’s Chrome & Opera. The engine was developed by Google & made available as an open-source project so that other developers could build on & improve it. It seems pretty weird that Microsoft, a traditional competitor, has chosen to use Google’s engine- currently they are aggressively advertising Edge, & prompting Internet users to download their browser in preference to Chrome.
Microsoft is replacing all old versions Edge via Windows Updates, & plans to cease support for Legacy as soon as these updates are complete. Microsoft Edge can be downloaded directly for a multitude of OS(Operating Systems), in addition to Windows 10, which will now run this browser as its default option. Edge is available for iPhone, iPad, Windows(8.1 & 7), Mac, Android & Microsoft are currently developing for Linux as well.
At 1st glance, Microsoft Edge looks much like Google’s Chrome, but there are a few salient differences; the most notable being the enhanced “privacy tracking” options. Next, there’s the favorites tab, which was one of the best features of the old Edge browser. It allows users to “collect” a list of favorite Web pages in one place & even add notes to them. Also, instead of signing in with your Google account, you can use Microsoft’s version, which syncs with other Microsoft products you might be using.
The enhanced privacy options, which offer 3 levels, each increasingly private, are probably going to be one of the biggest pivots in convincing current Google Chrome users to swap to Edge.
As regards to improvements over the old version, there are many, including the fact that users can now add any extension built for Chrome. When trying to add some extensions, Microsoft may warn you that they are incompatible or a security risk, so users will need to use their own judgment &, also test the extension to see if it works correctly.
Another advantage available with the new version is that the browser will update far more regularly, in fact as regularly as Chrome does, meaning that all the latest improvements to the engine will be almost instantaneously on offer. This is to say nothing of the snazzy new “wave” logo, which is a marked improvement over the old, unappealing blue “e”.
With all this innovation & changes, it remains to be seen if Microsoft Edge will grow in popularity, but current trends place the browser, on desktops at least, as 2nd in total downloads to Chrome at present. Microsoft, currently, might find itself well-placed to take advantage of the recent security breach announced by Google, admitting that at least 15000 extensions, downloaded by over 30 million users, were set up strictly to steal users’ data. We watch with bated breath.
Image credit: Microsoft
