Does Microsoft’s new browser have the Edge?
After 20 years of Internet Explorer – Microsoft sends it into obscurity by launching a cleaner, leaner browser which debuts in Windows 10.
Microsoft hopes the new browser will convince people to come back to Microsoft for their web browsing and put aside negative impressions they may have had with Internet Explorer. The browser is built completely from scratch and the default home page is inviting and fresh.
Microsoft has stripped away the design to leave a very clean “Chrome” like interface. The browser is designed to be touch friendly and icons are where you would expect them to be.
There’s not much to Edge’s design and that’s a good thing – but can it really regain ground lost to Google’s Chrome?
It’s also worth pointing out that Edge is designed to scale well regardless of the device you are using it on. Our tests have backed this up and scaling is smooth especially with responsive websites.
Microsoft has also further enhanced the Reading List feature which lets you save articles and webpages for later reading. Unlike Apple – Microsoft has continued support for Adobe Flash by building it right into Edge, although we’re not sure why Microsoft continues to support this.
The browser is also Cortana enabled – that doesn’t mean you can talk to it, but Cortana works in the background to provide context when you highlight a word or type in queries for weather or other common search terms.
Microsoft has always set itself apart with its productivity enhancements and Edge benefits greatly with the ability to write on web pages with pen enabled devices (or finger and keyboard) and then share the page with OneNote. Markup is a great idea but it remains to be seen how useful it is in the real world.
Summary:
Our team all think that Edge is more responsive, mobile and touch friendly than the previous versions of Internet Explorer.
For anyone that has written of Internet Explorer in favour of Chrome – we suggest you have another look especially if you are using touch enabled devices. We can’t promise you’ll like it – but you may be swayed..
