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Microsoft Edge Web Browser Gets Sharper


For better website compatibility Microsoft has entirely revamped the Edge web browser, using Chromium underneath. Users can go to Microsoft's Edge Download page to get it. The browser will eventually be rolled out to all users via Windows Update. It will continue to offer unique features, with powerful privacy options, home-page customizations, an immersive reading view with lifelike voices for text-to-speech, and a nifty Collections feature for web research leading the way.

For a look at Microsoft's future plans for the web browser, read What's New in Microsoft's Edge Browser.

The move should result in more site compatibility, but I'm concerned that it will further consolidate Google's ownership of the Internet, since the search ad giant controls the Chromium project. One side-benefit to Microsoft's decision is that it plans to offer Edge for macOS and older Windows versions as well as Windows 10. A Linux version is also planned.

Edge remains the only browser with support for 4K UHD Netflix streaming. I can only hope that Microsoft will restore some of the unique tools of the original Edge, like a right-click search panel for selected text (saving you from opening a new tab to do a quick search), pinning sites to the taskbar, Fluent design eye candy, and tab organization, to name a few.

The browser can silence noisy tabs with a click on the speaker icon that appears in any tab issuing sound. You can also silence auto-play videos and music. Edge will autofill online payment forms with secure information, print webpages without all the unessential clutter, and display PDFs in full screen.

Edge's Extensions menu option links to the new web-based Windows app store, from which you can get Edge extensions. I tested by installing one I consider essential—LastPass. Happily, some strong privacy and ad-blocking extensions are available, including AdGuard and uBlock Origin. (AdBlock and Adblock Plus are also in the store, but I find those less effective.) You can also install Chrome extensions in Edge.

Tablet and touch-screen users will appreciate Edge's swipe gestures, which let you go back and forth in history, and desktop users will appreciate that right-clicking the back button drops down tab history, as most browsers do. I also appreciate that Edge, like other browsers, offers paste-and-go and paste-and-search options.
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