The new Microsoft Edge browser was launched yesterday. Having used the Beta for a couple months, I put down some thoughts in this Twitter thread: https://twitter.com/azsheridan/status/1217678326912909312?s=21
It quickly became my favourite and only browser for Windows. Download Edge here.
What is the big change? Microsoft have changed the main brain inside Edge to use Chromium rather than whatever Microsoft code they had in there before. What’s Chromium? It’s the Open Source core of Google Chrome. Don’t think that this is Chrome though. When Google initially made Chrome, they based some of it on Open Source code. This in turn meant they had to make that Code open source. Microsoft in-turn has built on this core code. Such is the beauty of Open Source, that means Google Chrome is now a little bit written by Microsoft!
Anyway, here’s what I think of new Edge:
It uses much less RAM and CPU - in my regular tests about 20% of the resource that Chrome was using. That means I can have FIVE TIMES more tabs open etc. My whole regular computer is quicker, and it’s given a new lease of life to my four-year old old laptop. Microsoft Dynamics 365 runs a bit more quickly.
It replaces Edge-old, Chrome, AND Internet Explorer.
What do we call Old Edge now? Legacy Edge? Ledge? Whatever, it has never been used again. There was one thing that I had to use Edge for - a particular way
I have installed the Chrome extensions that I actually use into Edge.* I broke my addiction to Chrome password manager by moving to LastPass months ago, and being able to quickly use Edge is thanks to that. What this is means is that the stuff I used to have to use Chrome for I didn’t any more.
I had needed IE for legacy stuff - in particular Microsoft’s own Remote App access. (For those who don’t know it, it’s MS’s version of Citrix.) Not needed any more! Edge recognises the legacy-ness of these pages.
The O365 integration is really good. Your [SharePoint] files appear in Bing search. It shows in-house contacts (including distribution lists), SharePoint pages, Files, Teams chat, Yammer chat. Only bug bear is you have to mouse-click a company icon for these to appear and you have to use Bing. But in fairness this is the right way to start-small for a big change like this for users.
Unified history is not there. (So you can’t jump to a page you had open on a different device.) Edge history has disappeared from Windows. I have not missed not missed that, but I can see some doing so. Personally, it has cleaned up that history and made it easier to use. (‘Easier’ when I do use it - I’m talking about the little timeline icon in the bottom left. Also accessed from four-finger swipe-up.)
But overall, I stopped all other browser use in Windows after a week of New Edge. I have installed it on Mac OS but have not put time into breaking the Safari addiction there. All signs are good though - I think I just have been using Mac OS much less in recent months.
The new @MicrosoftEdge is definitely my browser of choice; I very much recommend it.
*Using the Chrome web store within the Edge browser.
