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10 reasons to upgrade to the new Microsoft Edge


Article authored by Liat Ben-Zur, Corporate Vice President, Microsoft Edge

The last weeks are not like anything in my memory. As a working mom, I’m used to a busy schedule, breaking apart in different directions, balancing between the needs of my family and work, and in general I feel what’s called hot cakes. But these past few weeks have brought my everyday reality to a whole new level. And I suspect I'm not alone in this. I juggle calls to Teams and try to promote things at work (and I understand that I’m lucky in this sense), and now, in addition, I’m doing homework for my children. Sensation as if the volume of everything and everything had grown significantly. More emails, more information and news, more screaming (while I am writing this, my children are quarreling right outside the door), more video calls, more anxiety - to be honest, digesting all this is not easy.

Today we are announcing a  set of new consumer services from Microsoft , including new consumer features in Microsoft Edge that will help you stay organized and save time, protect your data and identity, and allow you to get more. If you have not yet launched the new Microsoft Edge,  now is the time to try .

I noticed that the browser - a thing that I would not attach particular importance to if it were not needed every day - has become an even more necessary tool than before. Reading the latest news about COVID-19, using Teams to organize meetings, working with the team online to work with Word documents, making lesson plans for my children, buying toilet paper - the browser does not cool down all day. We all rely on this tool and use it for years.

My browser habits haven't changed - but the world has changed, and it's incredible. Today we are worried about what kind of information you should trust online. We worry about our personal data, about our identity and the safety of our children online. We at Microsoft have questioned the browser status quo. Perhaps the time has come to raise our expectations from the Web.

Last year, we began to rethink the Web and began a thorough restructuring of our Microsoft Edge browser, taking the Chromium engine as the basis. Thanks to this, we are confident that we can provide world-class quality of speed, performance and web compatibility with sites and extensions that you use every day. But we are convinced that this is not enough. It's time to expect more from browsers - more control over our data and information about our families online, new ways to organize our work online and increase the efficiency of surfing.

Here are some of my favorite features in the new Microsoft Edge:

1. Organize your search with Collections




If you need to suddenly build a curriculum for your child or a long stay at home has awakened the dormant abilities of a chef, Collections will be a good help. Collections make it easy to collect, organize, and export information from various websites to different files, or return to your research and continue from where you left off. Now it can be difficult, especially when it comes to the mass of different sites and several devices.

By clicking on the Collections button, a panel will open in the browser on the right where you can easily drag and group web pages, text and images - you don’t need to open another page or another application. You can then send your collection to Word or Excel. I use Collections to create lesson plans for children: I search the Web for all sorts of interesting ideas, then drag them to the Collections panel on the right, and when I finish, I export the Collection to a beautiful Word document with one click and then print it to the children. You can also share the collection by copying it to Outlook or another email service.



Today we announced that the Collections will also appear in a mobile format this spring so that it is easy for you to create, open and synchronize your Collections on all devices. The desktop version of the Collections is already available on insider channels, and will soon be on a stable channel.

2. Work efficiently with vertical tabs




If you, like me, go to many sites, then you always have dozens of tabs open. And when this happens, it becomes difficult to make out which of them is which. It happens that because of this I get lost or accidentally close a tab - by itself, usually the one I needed.

Today we announced the function of vertical tabs, which will help you easily find and manage many simultaneously open sites. Microsoft Edge is the only browser that allows you to manage tabs on the side with a single click. Vertical tabs will appear on insider channels in the next few months.

3. Save time with Smart Copy




My favorite technological innovations are usually the simplest ones, those that unwittingly raise the question: “How did I live without them before?” How often did you happen to cut and paste something from the Internet into documents, where beautiful web content immediately turns into Augean stables that need to be raked? Smart Copy makes it easy to select, copy and paste web content while maintaining a rich web format. You can select any area or any content with the cursor, and when you insert it, it will retain formatting, including images or links. It sounds very simple, but believe me, it dramatically changes lives. We expect to launch Smart Copy on insider channels next month.

4. Tracking Prevention Advertising Control




I will be frank - I love shopping. Therefore, yes, sometimes personalized advertising is useful - I find various new products online that I might not have found otherwise. But for many others - and especially my children - personalized ads that roam the web behind you may seem intrusive, or even creepy. Edge tracking prevention protects you from tracking by third-party websites that you don’t directly access.

This gives you more control over what you see and what not. On mobile devices or desktop computers, you can choose one of three settings: Basic, Balanced, or Strict. Depending on this, Microsoft Edge will adjust which third-party trackers to block. During surfing, I prefer to use the Balanced mode (default). And in the browsers of my children I set Strict mode. Preventing tracking makes it easier to see and manage who is tracking you online. The function is already available.

5. Find out about passwords compromised on the darknet using Password Monitor




Every year, millions of usernames and passwords are sold on the darknet and are made public due to data leaks.

Today we are announcing Password Monitor in Microsoft Edge, which will help protect your online accounts from hackers. The included Password Monitor notifies you if personal data from autocomplete is found on the darknet. If Microsoft Edge detects a match with your login-password bundles, you will receive a notification from within your browser with suggestions for further actions. In the Settings panel, you can view a list of all leaked data and go to the corresponding websites to change passwords. And when the password is changed, save the new data to autocomplete and calmly continue surfing, knowing that Microsoft Edge and Password Monitor are on guard. And again - a simple, even elementary solution, but thanks to it it became much easier for me to surf the Web. Another problem is less.Password Monitor will appear in insider builds in the next few months.

6. Maintain true online browsing and search privacy with InPrivate improvements




Sometimes you need extra privacy online. For example, if I share the device with other members of my family, I do not want them to see that I am choosing a birthday present - it is important for me to keep a surprise! In such cases, I prefer to use the InPrivate mode, because it automatically deletes my history, cookies and site data at the end of the session. While surfing in InPrivate mode, my search history is not tied to me or my account. InPrivate surfing is now available. Bing's InPrivate search is already available on insider channels and will soon appear in a stable channel.

7. Immersive Reader lets everyone learn and benefit from the web.




Reading is one of the most common activities on the Internet, but dyslexia or other reading disorders can make it difficult. Immersive Reader, built into Microsoft Edge, simplifies online reading and makes it accessible to everyone. By clicking on the Immersive Reader icon, all distractions disappear from the screen, the page takes on a simplified look and helps you focus. You can also use a variety of personalization tools, for example, reading an article out loud or adjusting text. Immersive Reader is already available, and new features like single-line focusing are coming soon.

8. Microsoft Edge delivers the best viewing experience in 4K and Dolby Audio




These days, many of us watch online cinemas more than usual. Our goal is to provide the best entertainment options in high resolution when viewing content on the Web. Microsoft Edge is the only browser for Windows 10 to watch Netflix in 4K. In addition, it is the only browser for Windows 10 with support for Dolby Audio and Dolby Vision. Thanks to our partnership with Netflix, you and your friends can enjoy streaming 4K movies and TV shows anywhere on your  Windows 10 PC.  The feature is already available.

9. Make your contribution: donations from Bing




Among everything that happens around these days, I try to keep in mind and show children that little things can be of great importance, whether it’s taking care of oneself or caring for others. Today we are introducing  Give with Bing and the Give Mode feature in Bing  , a new way to support activities that you care about. This is a simple thing, but it has the potential to have a real impact. If you want to search in Bing, you can earn points for queries within the Microsoft Rewards program.

By enabling the new Give Mode feature in the reward settings, you can donate your reward points to selected cases. It's free for you, just search with Bing. With a selection of over 1 million nonprofits, you can support a truly important cause, including the CDC Foundation and other organizations involved in responding to COVID-19. Moreover, by the end of June, Microsoft Rewards will duplicate all user donations of its own to have an even greater impact. Give it a try . Join Microsoft Rewards, switch to Give Mode and give back with Bing. Give Mode is already available in some countries.

10. Microsoft Edge is ready (and easy to switch to)



Everyone can download the new Microsoft Edge at  Microsoft.com/Edge . It is available for Windows, Mac, iOS and Android. If you are a Windows 10 client and have not yet received the new Microsoft Edge, you can download it today or wait for the update next month. It is very simple to go to it in one click with all your favorites, passwords and information for auto-filling forms - and it doesn’t matter if you download it yourself or wait until it is installed on your PC. If you have never used Microsoft Edge, we are happy to  invite you to try it .

We will continue to focus on quality when releasing new features. This means that all our functions will be tested in preliminary insider builds and first appear in the experimental version, and then go into stable - only when we are satisfied with the quality level. If you downloaded the new Edge, you just have to wait. We will update your browser according to availability If you want to use them today, you can join the Microsoft Edge pretest program.

We worked hard to meet the demands of today's sophisticated Internet users. With the new Microsoft Edge, we hope to provide you with great performance, more control over your data and better ways to receive, absorb and apply information. Because it's time to expect more from the Internet.

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