Microsoft Edge (Chromium) Preview

Microsoft's revamped Edge web browser, which is based on the same Chromium code that powers Google's Chrome browser, is finally here.

Why use Microsoft Edge if it's now based on the same underlying code as Chrome? Most site developers already target Chrome as the majority market-share browser, so the switch enables Microsoft to focus on adding unique features to Edge rather than playing whack-a-mole with website incompatibilities.

The Edge team can also make contributions to the open-source Chromium project, with over 1,600 code commits in 2019 alone. Some of those Chromium contributions include code that improves battery life on laptops, accessibility, touch, and ARM64 support. The initial feature focuses in Edge itself include the customizable and informative start page options, the Collections web research tool (see below), the Immersive Reading view, and security and privacy options.

And of course, Edge still offers all the goodies we've come to expect in a browser: bookmarks, history, downloads, extensions, sharing, and printing.

Starting Up

Just like any other browser, you can download Edge from its maker's site. If you do so, it replaces the existing version of Edge. To see upcoming features, download the Beta, Dev, and Canary (the least stable nightly build) channels from the Microsoft Edge Insider page. Over the next few months, the new browser will replace the existing Edge with the new one via Windows Update.

You needn't start with a blank slate: As with any modern browser, you can import favorites (aka bookmarks), passwords, addresses, and browsing history from Chrome, Firefox, an HTML file, or Internet Explorer. From Chrome, you can also import payment info and settings. In addition to the compatibility boost the browser gets from Chromium, Microsoft claims that any site that worked in the earlier Edge will work fine in the new.

Interface and Start Page

The new Edge looks more like Chrome than the original Edge. It sports rounded tabs that are slightly squared off compared with those of Chrome. Firefox, ironically, which started the sleekly rounded tab curve style, now has completely square tabs. Microsoft's Edge team has stated that the browser design is still a work in progress, and will get more Fluent Design characteristics. Currently it lacks the translucent effect in the orginal Edge. It does support Dark and Light modes and will respect your system color choices.

One thing I miss is customizable buttons next to the address bar. In the original Edge and in Firefox, you can choose to show History, Downloads, Share, and more there. I expect Microsoft will add this capability in an update as it did for the original Edge.

One thing I loved about Edge remains: Showing the bookmark bar only for new tabs. When you're reading a site, having the bookmark above the page is just distracting. Chrome now takes this approach, too, but with Firefox, the bookmark bar is either on or off.

Read Aloud and Immersive Reading Mode

Sometimes your eyes have just had enough for the day, but you'd still like to read that hot news or sports article. Edge can read webpages aloud in a remarkably natural-sounding voice, when you use its Immersive Reader view. The text-to-speech uses neural voices that were trained by machine learning AI. You can even download more languages and voices in the Windows Settings app.

The same button on the right side of the address bar is also where you'll find Immersive Reading view, which I find to be a lifesaver for noisy, ad-blinking websites. This mode shows just the text and important content, with a background of black, muted beige, or other color of your choice. The view can also be used as a learning tool; its grammar tools options let you break word displays into syllables and colorize parts of speech.

One thing I prefer about Firefox's reading view is that it works on every site: Edge respects sites that opt out of the feature.

Collections

A highlight of the new Edge browser is Collections. Like some other features, this one isn't yet in the released version, but it's available in the Dev channel. Collections let you save stuff as you browse during web research. You can easily add the current page, drag images onto the collection panels on the right of the browser window. You can also add notes, and when you're done, you can send the collection to Word or Excel, or copy everything in it. I'd like to see sending to OneNote added, since that tool is apropos for this activity. Pasting a collection worked well in Word and Google Docs.

I've seen many similar web clipping tools, but Collections is more fluid and easy to use than others; I could see it being useful for trip planning, school projects, and more. It's also more exposed than the earlier Set Tabs Aside feature, which I tended to forget about.

Security and Privacy

Security and privacy were top priorities for Edge's development. The browser has tracking protection enabled by default, and includes protections against phishing, malicious software, and new types of malware like cryptojacking.

The Privacy settings page offers three general options: Basic, Balanced, and Strict. The first, as you expect, is the most permissive. It also causes few site incompatibilities, as the stricter options may prevent functionality deemed to possibly present security risks. The levels are clearly explained in the settings page, and you can whitelist sites to allow third-party content.

There's also (as in all browsers now) a privacy mode, called InPrivate, that doesn't save any activity during a browsing session. I like that there's an option to always turn on Strict privacy in this mode.

For larger organizations, Microsoft offers a security baseline, or a set of recommended browser settings for various industry types.

Syncing and Passwords

Edge lets you use more than one profile. If the profile is associated with a Microsoft account, you can sync Favorites, Settings, Addresses, Passwords, History, Open Tabs, Extensions, and Collections among any instances of Edge you're signed in to. You can turn any of these syncing categories on or off to taste. There's also a Browse as Guest option, to prevent other users from getting access to all this.

Progressive Web Apps

Some sites are basically apps, like Spotify, or Flipboard. Progressive Web App (PWA) support lets you turn certain sites into apps, with their own desktop shortcuts and no browser borders around them. In the new Edge, on an app-able site, go to the top-right overflow menu (…), choose Apps, and then, for sites that can act as PWAs, you see the option "Install this site as an app" and you'll get a standalone app window.

These PWAs, however, don't have all the functionality of store apps, including appearing in the Share panel or syncing to other devices.

Performance

For a quick test of performance, I ran WebXPRT 3, from Principled Technologies, with all nonessential processes turned off, on my Asus Zen AiO Pro Z240IC running 64-bit Windows 10 Home and sporting a 4K display, 16GB RAM, a quad-core Intel Core i7-6700T CPU, and an Nvidia GeForce GTX 960M discrete graphics card.

The benchmark has six HTML and JavaScript tests that measure "scenarios created to mirror the tasks you do every day: Photo Enhancement, Organize Album Using AI, Stock Option Pricing, Encrypt Notes and OCR Scan, Sales Graphs, and Online Homework. The new Edge got a score of 179 (higher is better). Chrome got 177, and Firefox won with a 205 score.

I was surprised to see that on the HMTL5Test standards compatibility measure, Edge actually scored higher than Chrome with a score of 535 compared with Chrome's 528 and Firefox's 491.

Extensions

The original Edge trailed other leading browsers in extensions, in part because of Microsoft's caution in vetting them. Thanks to its shared codebase with Chrome, the new Edge has no extension deficit this time around. You get them from within the browser, instead of from Windows' app store, which makes sense, since the browser runs on platforms other than Windows 10. I found all my essentials available—LastPass, uBlock Origin, and Evernote. In fact, developers of existing Edge extensions need only give Microsoft permission to update the code for appearance in the new extension store.

Sharing and Output

You now have to dig into the (…) overflow menu to get to the Share icon. (I expect that Microsoft will at some point let you add this button to the top of the window, as it did with the original Edge.) This opens the standard Windows 10 share panel, which I find useful for emailing, messaging, or tweeting a website.

Web page printing offers all the same options you get in Chrome, though its design differs. You get a preview as well as an option to use system printing dialog.

Other Platforms

Many were pleased when Microsoft announced that the new browser would not be tied to Windows 10, but would also run on Windows 7 and, gasp, even macOS. Personally, I'm perplexed as to why it would do either, to be honest. Window 7 is dead, and the best recommendation is to update to Windows 10. I can't see very many Mac users running a browser from Microsoft (even though that company once produced the default browser on the Mac).

More useful are the Android and iOS versions of Edge, which do a good job of syncing favorites, passwords, history, and so on. They also let you directly push a webpage to your desktop PC.

What's Missing

A surprising number of the original Edge's hallmark features bite the dust in this new Chromium browser: Set Tabs Aside was a way to gather all open tabs and hide them for later use. Collections covers pretty much the same need, though the earlier feature was more useful for quick tab cleanup. Tab Previews, the down-arrow button on the tab bar that revealed thumbnails of the sites for those tabs, is gone. If you loved that feature, check out Opera or Vivaldi, both of which offer hover-over tab preview options.

One of Edge's biggest distinguishing features was its markup and note-adding tool. This let you draw, highlight, crop, and share any webpage or save it to OneNote.

A New Edge

The new Edge shows a lot of promise, and freeing its development team from chasing standards compliance should allow it to produce welcome new features. Looming in the background is the notion that Google, which controls the Chromium open-source project on which Edge is now based, is nearing complete control of the once open, free, and noncorporate web. But in terms of features, compatibility, performance, and security, Edge has the makings of a winner.