Microsoft Edge has rapidly evolved from its Internet Explorer legacy, transforming into one of the most feature-rich and privacy-conscious browsers on the market. With Microsoft’s strategic integration of Edge into its broader Windows ecosystem, the browser benefits from regular updates, innovative tools, and a commitment to security and user personalization. Whether you’re a newcomer to Windows or a long-time user looking to maximize productivity and safety, understanding what’s new and noteworthy in Microsoft Edge can unlock a streamlined online experience.
Microsoft Edge was first introduced in 2015 as the successor to Internet Explorer, but its reinvention started in earnest with the January 2020 release built on Chromium, the open-source platform also powering Google Chrome. This switch enabled Edge to support a broader array of extensions, enhance web compatibility, and offer improved speed and reliability. The result is a browser that is as nimble as it is adaptable, capable of serving casual users and enterprise environments alike.
Edge’s integration into Windows means it’s always up to date, as Microsoft frequently rolls out security patches and feature enhancements through Windows Update. This seamless maintenance ensures users aren’t left vulnerable to emerging threats—a significant step beyond the sporadic updates that plagued Internet Explorer in its later years.
Recent updates have also emphasized transparency, providing a clear view of blocked trackers and the ability to adjust settings for individual sites. Privacy Reporting, a dashboard showing what trackers have been blocked, gives empowered users detailed control without overwhelming beginners. According to Microsoft’s documentation and corroborated by security analysts, Edge’s tracker protection is on par with, and sometimes ahead of, competitors like Chrome and Firefox—though the most privacy-obsessed may still prefer open-source alternatives such as Brave or Tor for maximal anonymity.
For children and families, Microsoft introduces Kids Mode—a security- and privacy-enhanced browsing mode that restricts access to adult content and features customizable content filters. These safeguard approaches, when layered with Microsoft’s Family Safety tools, provide a robust environment for younger users.
Appearance customization is another area where Edge shines. Users can choose from light and dark themes or enable automatic theme switching, aligning with Windows’ native settings. Customizable new tab pages, rich backgrounds, and vertical tabs are some of the unique features setting Edge apart. For multitaskers, Collections—a Microsoft-specific bookmarking and research tool—allow users to gather clippings, notes, and images from around the web and organize them into shareable sets.
Extension support is robust, benefiting directly from Edge’s Chromium foundation. The browser supports nearly all extensions found in the Chrome Web Store, as well as those listed in Microsoft’s own Edge Add-ons store. This broad compatibility means switching from Chrome to Edge involves little disruption, with most favorite plugins and workflow tools instantly accessible.
Edge also comes equipped with a built-in SmartScreen filter, which actively blocks access to malicious websites and suspected phishing links. Independent tests from security research outlets indicate that Edge’s SmartScreen consistently blocks more phishing and malware sites than Chrome’s equivalent Safe Browsing feature, offering a tangible layer of protection.
Another newcomer is the Password Generator, which recommends secure passwords as users create new accounts online. Edge can also autofill complex passwords and save credentials with user opt-in, streamlining login experiences without sacrificing security. For enterprise environments, Edge offers Enhanced Security Mode, which uses hardware isolation and other protections to constrain potentially malicious web pages.
Edge’s integration with Windows Defender—Microsoft’s own security suite—provides additional support, ensuring that threats detected at the browser level can be triaged with system-wide defense mechanisms operating in tandem.
For battery-conscious users, Edge introduces efficiency modes that automatically adjust resource consumption when laptops are running low on power. This results in tangible improvements compared to other browsers: independent benchmarks from multiple testing labs show Edge consuming less RAM and extending battery life compared to Chrome on identical hardware.
Deep integration with Windows ecosystems pays real dividends. Edge supports native Windows Hello authentication for passwordless sign-ins, integrates with Windows Timeline for seamless session restoration, and allows users to share web content directly to their Windows devices and apps. For business users, Edge’s support for Azure Active Directory and synchronization via Microsoft 365 ensures that critical data, bookmarks, and settings are accessible across devices.
Notable, too, is Edge’s support for voice commands, speech-to-text input, and alternative navigation methods, making it a viable option for users with motor or visual impairments. Because accessibility settings can be synchronized via profile login, users experience a consistent interface on any device, reducing friction during transitions between workstations or environments.
For students and researchers, Edge delivers built-in math solvers and citation generators, leveraging Microsoft’s artificial intelligence backend. These features support context-aware assistance, reducing the need to juggle multiple apps or browser extensions. The Read Aloud tool, improved with each update, is increasingly relied upon by users with visual impairments—as well as those who simply prefer auditory learning.
Synchronization covers a broad range of user data, including favorites, passwords, autofill information, extensions, and settings. Supported across Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android, Edge delivers a nearly uniform experience no matter the device. Features like “Continue on PC” allow mobile users to seamlessly send links, images, or open tabs to a Windows desktop for deeper tasks.
Microsoft assures users that all synchronized data is encrypted both in transit and at rest, with further protections available for business accounts using company-managed encryption keys.
Edge’s Collections tool, meanwhile, offers one of the more versatile research and curation solutions natively available in a web browser. Users can add webpages, images, notes, and even export organized content directly to Word and Excel. For students, researchers, and business professionals, this feature can replace or supplement a range of third-party apps, trimming workflow bloat.
PDF handling is also a relative strength: Edge natively opens, signs, annotates, and saves PDF files with support for inking, highlighting, and form filling. While advanced PDF editing might still require specialized software, Edge covers the day-to-day needs of most users, closing a longstanding gap between basic browsers and costly desktop apps.
The Shopping and Coupons feature, for example, while useful, is enabled by default. The collection of shopping analytics, even when anonymized, could concern users wary of digital profiling. Microsoft’s strong integration with its wider cloud ecosystem also means that users who do not rely on other Microsoft services may find some features redundant.
Compatibility with legacy web applications—one of Edge’s differentiators via “Internet Explorer mode”—is, by Microsoft’s own admission, only a transitional solution. As legacy support is phased out, businesses that depend on old plugins or web systems are advised to strategize migrations or face potential compatibility headaches.
Those favoring open-source software will note that, despite its Chromium base, Edge itself is not open source. While Microsoft contributes to the Chromium project, Edge includes several proprietary elements and telemetry frameworks that do not match the full transparency of Chromium derivatives like Brave or Vivaldi.
Additionally, browser market share remains an uphill battle. Despite significant gains, Edge still trails behind Chrome and Safari globally, meaning some web developers and service providers may optimize less aggressively for Edge—though Chromium compatibility does mitigate most practical disparities.
Recent praise is directed toward the regular cadence of updates—Edge often debuts major features ahead of Chrome, such as vertical tabs and AI-powered capabilities, signaling a new spirit of innovation at Microsoft.
Critics, however, continue to spotlight the browser’s insistence on making itself the default during Windows setup, sometimes overriding user preferences. Microsoft’s history with browser bundling has faced regulatory scrutiny in Europe and elsewhere—a dynamic that the company continues to navigate carefully.
For users evaluating their browser choice, Microsoft Edge now presents a compelling mix: cutting-edge privacy and security, deep integration with the dominant desktop operating system, robust cross-platform support, and a steady drumbeat of innovation. For Windows users, much of Edge’s value is inherent, requiring minimal adjustment to benefit from its strengths. Power users, meanwhile, will find enough depth to tailor workflows, workflows, and security precisely to their liking.
As with any browser, individual priorities—privacy, speed, compatibility, extensibility—will shape user decisions. Yet in a competitive landscape, Microsoft Edge has confidently redefined itself, not merely as a default, but as a first-choice browser in a rapidly evolving digital world.
Source: Microsoft Support Get to know Microsoft Edge - Microsoft Support
Microsoft Edge was first introduced in 2015 as the successor to Internet Explorer, but its reinvention started in earnest with the January 2020 release built on Chromium, the open-source platform also powering Google Chrome. This switch enabled Edge to support a broader array of extensions, enhance web compatibility, and offer improved speed and reliability. The result is a browser that is as nimble as it is adaptable, capable of serving casual users and enterprise environments alike.Edge’s integration into Windows means it’s always up to date, as Microsoft frequently rolls out security patches and feature enhancements through Windows Update. This seamless maintenance ensures users aren’t left vulnerable to emerging threats—a significant step beyond the sporadic updates that plagued Internet Explorer in its later years.
Privacy Tools: User Control and Tracking Protection
A major pillar of Microsoft Edge’s evolution has been its focus on user privacy. Modern concerns about data harvesting and rampant online tracking have prompted Microsoft to make privacy-friendly options front and center. One of the cornerstone features is tracking prevention, accessible through the browser’s Settings menu, which lets users select between three levels: Basic, Balanced, and Strict. This setup allows for varying degrees of cookie and tracker blocking, giving users the power to determine how much data they share across the web.Recent updates have also emphasized transparency, providing a clear view of blocked trackers and the ability to adjust settings for individual sites. Privacy Reporting, a dashboard showing what trackers have been blocked, gives empowered users detailed control without overwhelming beginners. According to Microsoft’s documentation and corroborated by security analysts, Edge’s tracker protection is on par with, and sometimes ahead of, competitors like Chrome and Firefox—though the most privacy-obsessed may still prefer open-source alternatives such as Brave or Tor for maximal anonymity.
For children and families, Microsoft introduces Kids Mode—a security- and privacy-enhanced browsing mode that restricts access to adult content and features customizable content filters. These safeguard approaches, when layered with Microsoft’s Family Safety tools, provide a robust environment for younger users.
Customization and Personalization: Language, Appearance, and Extensions
User experience remains a major differentiator for Edge, enabling significant customization without sacrificing performance. Within the browser’s settings, language preferences are easy to locate and fine-tune, permitting users to select default display and translation languages. Microsoft’s Immersive Reader further enhances accessibility, providing simplified layouts, focus reading modes, and read-aloud capabilities. These tools are especially beneficial for educational or multilingual environments.Appearance customization is another area where Edge shines. Users can choose from light and dark themes or enable automatic theme switching, aligning with Windows’ native settings. Customizable new tab pages, rich backgrounds, and vertical tabs are some of the unique features setting Edge apart. For multitaskers, Collections—a Microsoft-specific bookmarking and research tool—allow users to gather clippings, notes, and images from around the web and organize them into shareable sets.
Extension support is robust, benefiting directly from Edge’s Chromium foundation. The browser supports nearly all extensions found in the Chrome Web Store, as well as those listed in Microsoft’s own Edge Add-ons store. This broad compatibility means switching from Chrome to Edge involves little disruption, with most favorite plugins and workflow tools instantly accessible.
Security Innovations: Password Management, Secure Browsing, and More
Security is at the heart of Edge’s design, particularly as ransomware and phishing attacks continue to rise. Microsoft Edge builds in several advanced safety features to protect users at every step. The password monitor, available in the browser’s profile settings, scans saved credentials against databases of known breaches. If a password is discovered in a leak, users receive a prompt to change it immediately—a feature now standard in top browsers but implemented here with particular clarity.Edge also comes equipped with a built-in SmartScreen filter, which actively blocks access to malicious websites and suspected phishing links. Independent tests from security research outlets indicate that Edge’s SmartScreen consistently blocks more phishing and malware sites than Chrome’s equivalent Safe Browsing feature, offering a tangible layer of protection.
Another newcomer is the Password Generator, which recommends secure passwords as users create new accounts online. Edge can also autofill complex passwords and save credentials with user opt-in, streamlining login experiences without sacrificing security. For enterprise environments, Edge offers Enhanced Security Mode, which uses hardware isolation and other protections to constrain potentially malicious web pages.
Edge’s integration with Windows Defender—Microsoft’s own security suite—provides additional support, ensuring that threats detected at the browser level can be triaged with system-wide defense mechanisms operating in tandem.
Performance, Compatibility, and Integration with Windows
Users expect browsers to be fast, reliable, and compatible with modern web standards. Edge’s move to Chromium ensures that even resource-intensive, media-rich sites operate smoothly. Startup Boost, a feature unique to Edge among major browsers, keeps core processes running in the background so the browser opens near-instantly—even after a full device restart.For battery-conscious users, Edge introduces efficiency modes that automatically adjust resource consumption when laptops are running low on power. This results in tangible improvements compared to other browsers: independent benchmarks from multiple testing labs show Edge consuming less RAM and extending battery life compared to Chrome on identical hardware.
Deep integration with Windows ecosystems pays real dividends. Edge supports native Windows Hello authentication for passwordless sign-ins, integrates with Windows Timeline for seamless session restoration, and allows users to share web content directly to their Windows devices and apps. For business users, Edge’s support for Azure Active Directory and synchronization via Microsoft 365 ensures that critical data, bookmarks, and settings are accessible across devices.
Accessibility and Inclusive Web Experiences
Accessibility is not an afterthought in Edge’s design philosophy. The browser incorporates a suite of tools to support users with varying abilities, including the aforementioned Immersive Reader, as well as screen reader compatibility, keyboard navigation improvements, and high-contrast mode. Microsoft regularly collaborates with accessibility advocates and beta testers to ensure compliance with industry standards, such as the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).Notable, too, is Edge’s support for voice commands, speech-to-text input, and alternative navigation methods, making it a viable option for users with motor or visual impairments. Because accessibility settings can be synchronized via profile login, users experience a consistent interface on any device, reducing friction during transitions between workstations or environments.
Online Shopping, Coupons, and Smart Features
Edge differentiates itself from traditional browsers by integrating a set of tools squarely aimed at online shoppers. The built-in Coupon Finder and Shopping Price Comparison tool automatically scan for lower prices and available discount codes as users browse e-commerce sites. According to Microsoft, these features have collectively saved users millions of dollars over the past year, though independent verification of those claims is challenging due to proprietary data.For students and researchers, Edge delivers built-in math solvers and citation generators, leveraging Microsoft’s artificial intelligence backend. These features support context-aware assistance, reducing the need to juggle multiple apps or browser extensions. The Read Aloud tool, improved with each update, is increasingly relied upon by users with visual impairments—as well as those who simply prefer auditory learning.
Managing Profiles and Synchronization
One of Edge’s more business-friendly features is its profile management and synchronization capabilities. Users can create distinct profiles for work, personal, and guest browsing—each with its own settings, passwords, and extensions. This partitioned approach appeals to those who frequently switch contexts but want to maintain privacy and organization without cumbersome logouts or the risks associated with overlapping credentials.Synchronization covers a broad range of user data, including favorites, passwords, autofill information, extensions, and settings. Supported across Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android, Edge delivers a nearly uniform experience no matter the device. Features like “Continue on PC” allow mobile users to seamlessly send links, images, or open tabs to a Windows desktop for deeper tasks.
Microsoft assures users that all synchronized data is encrypted both in transit and at rest, with further protections available for business accounts using company-managed encryption keys.
Productivity Features: Vertical Tabs, Collections, and PDF Editing
Edge’s vertical tabs feature is widely cited as a game changer for anyone juggling dozens of simultaneous open sites—especially on widescreen displays. This innovative interface repositions tabs to a sidebar, maintaining easy visibility and access while maximizing vertical space for content. This design, though imitated by extensions in other browsers, remains slicker and better integrated in Edge as of the most recent updates.Edge’s Collections tool, meanwhile, offers one of the more versatile research and curation solutions natively available in a web browser. Users can add webpages, images, notes, and even export organized content directly to Word and Excel. For students, researchers, and business professionals, this feature can replace or supplement a range of third-party apps, trimming workflow bloat.
PDF handling is also a relative strength: Edge natively opens, signs, annotates, and saves PDF files with support for inking, highlighting, and form filling. While advanced PDF editing might still require specialized software, Edge covers the day-to-day needs of most users, closing a longstanding gap between basic browsers and costly desktop apps.
Potential Risks, Limitations, and Areas for Caution
Not all is perfect with Microsoft Edge. Some privacy advocates caution that Microsoft’s data collection policies, while transparent, still aggregate telemetry and user data for targeted content and recommendations. Users seeking maximum web anonymity may find the browser’s opt-out (rather than opt-in) approach to certain data settings problematic.The Shopping and Coupons feature, for example, while useful, is enabled by default. The collection of shopping analytics, even when anonymized, could concern users wary of digital profiling. Microsoft’s strong integration with its wider cloud ecosystem also means that users who do not rely on other Microsoft services may find some features redundant.
Compatibility with legacy web applications—one of Edge’s differentiators via “Internet Explorer mode”—is, by Microsoft’s own admission, only a transitional solution. As legacy support is phased out, businesses that depend on old plugins or web systems are advised to strategize migrations or face potential compatibility headaches.
Those favoring open-source software will note that, despite its Chromium base, Edge itself is not open source. While Microsoft contributes to the Chromium project, Edge includes several proprietary elements and telemetry frameworks that do not match the full transparency of Chromium derivatives like Brave or Vivaldi.
Additionally, browser market share remains an uphill battle. Despite significant gains, Edge still trails behind Chrome and Safari globally, meaning some web developers and service providers may optimize less aggressively for Edge—though Chromium compatibility does mitigate most practical disparities.
Expert and User Feedback: Strengths Highlighted
The consensus among independent reviewers and users is that Edge strikes a valuable balance—offering enterprise-grade security, thoughtful productivity tools, and a familiar user interface for Chrome switchers. Its seamless Windows integration receives high marks from IT administrators and business users, while home users frequently cite the browsing speed, low resource consumption, and ease of setup.Recent praise is directed toward the regular cadence of updates—Edge often debuts major features ahead of Chrome, such as vertical tabs and AI-powered capabilities, signaling a new spirit of innovation at Microsoft.
Critics, however, continue to spotlight the browser’s insistence on making itself the default during Windows setup, sometimes overriding user preferences. Microsoft’s history with browser bundling has faced regulatory scrutiny in Europe and elsewhere—a dynamic that the company continues to navigate carefully.
Future Prospects and Closing Thoughts
Looking ahead, Microsoft appears committed to positioning Edge as both a consumer and enterprise contender. Its early adoption of generative AI and machine learning to augment browser features, combined with ongoing innovation in privacy and productivity, suggest longevity and competitive pressure for other browsers. Microsoft’s willingness to solicit feedback and participate in W3C standards bodies is a welcome trend, potentially accelerating accessible and interoperable web development across the industry.For users evaluating their browser choice, Microsoft Edge now presents a compelling mix: cutting-edge privacy and security, deep integration with the dominant desktop operating system, robust cross-platform support, and a steady drumbeat of innovation. For Windows users, much of Edge’s value is inherent, requiring minimal adjustment to benefit from its strengths. Power users, meanwhile, will find enough depth to tailor workflows, workflows, and security precisely to their liking.
As with any browser, individual priorities—privacy, speed, compatibility, extensibility—will shape user decisions. Yet in a competitive landscape, Microsoft Edge has confidently redefined itself, not merely as a default, but as a first-choice browser in a rapidly evolving digital world.
Source: Microsoft Support Get to know Microsoft Edge - Microsoft Support