Experience with the New Edge Browser

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Summary:

This article introduces the new Edge browser launched by Microsoft in January 2020 and evaluates its pros and cons. The new Edge can import data directly from Google Chrome, supports both Microsoft and Chrome extension stores, and adds a “Collections” feature, but its layout has some issues. The author also compared video-loading speeds between the new Edge and Google Chrome and found little difference. Finally, the author expresses hope that Microsoft will take the browser seriously to prevent the new Edge from becoming the next IE.

In January 2020, Microsoft released the new Edge browser; the official site currently offers four builds for download: Stable, Canary, Beta, and Dev. The Stable build can be downloaded from the official site.

First, the new Edge can directly import bookmarks, passwords, browsing history, extensions, and other data from Google Chrome, achieving a seamless transition between the two browsers.

In terms of browser layout, because the new browser is based on the Chromium engine, the overall arrangement is similar to Google Chrome, but Microsoft continues its tradition of large icons, adding a big icon in front of every function, so that once several dropdown menus are opened they take up more than half the screen.

As everyone knows, installing extensions from the Chrome Web Store in Google Chrome requires a bit of “magic,” but in the new Edge you can download them directly from Microsoft’s add-on store, and you can find most of the extensions that are in the Chrome Web Store.

If you can’t find the extension you want in Microsoft’s store, you can still download it from the Chrome Web Store into Edge, which is very convenient.

The new Edge also adds a “Collections” feature—essentially bookmarks with images—which currently feels pretty useless.

I saw online reviews claiming the new Edge loads YouTube videos faster than Google Chrome, so I ran a test:

This is Google Chrome loading a YouTube video

This is the new Edge loading the same YouTube video

As you can see, after clearing the browser cache and closing any software that might use bandwidth, Chrome started loading the video at frame 18 and finished loading a YouTube clip and began playback at frame 102, taking 84 frames in total. The new Edge started at frame 19 and finished at frame 106, taking 87 frames. The difference is only 3 frames, so loading times are essentially the same.

It’s clear that the new Edge is quite competitive, especially in extensions—[DarkBText]for now[/DarkBText] filling the gap left by the inability to access the Chrome Web Store in China. Let’s hope Microsoft takes the browser seriously and doesn’t let the new Edge become the next IE.