aNewDomain — The new Microsoft Edge browser comes with Windows 10 and, despite being capable of running on that Windows version only, it’s is well designed. Edge is faster, more secure and far more capable than Internet Explorer, which is long in the tooth.
There are many new features in Edge that I find useful, like the ability to annotate a web page with your finger, mouse or keyboard — and share it with friends.
But it isn’t perfect. The Microsoft Edge browser right now is pretty rough around the edges.
Microsoft Edge: Not ready for primetime.
Windows 10 was ready and complete on release. Microsoft Edge, on the other hand, operates like a product that was released prematurely. The good news is that Microsoft included Internet Explorer in Windows 10, too. Now, good old IE isn’t front and center, but you can search for it and pin it to the Start Menu if you need it.
You can also easily run Chrome, Firefox or Opera with Windows 10.
I’m looking forward to the inevitable Microsoft Edge patches and updates. The new browser has so much potential. It’s just a diamond in the rough, waiting to be shaped.
A bigger Edge problem: No extensions!
In April, Microsoft’s Joe Belfiore announced that Microsoft Edge will support browser extensions from Chrome and Firefox. That’s a huge deal for those of us who rely on extensions for Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox. But then the other shoe dropped.
Microsoft execs subsequently announced that Edge extensions wouldn’t appear in the initial release. In fact, execs said not to expect them until after the release. It’s never good to promise something and then fail to deliver.
And no bookmark and tab syncing, either …
Upon setting up my newly updated Windows 10 computers, I quickly arrived upon another Edge browser downside. Unlike Chrome and Firefox, which let you sync bookmarks and open tabs among different computers, Edge doesn’t (yet) support that feature. That’s almost a dealbreaker
And a few other nits …
I found that while Chrome and Firefox make it easy to put a shortcut to a webpage on the desktop by simply dragging the address bar to the desktop, there is no such shortcut in the Edge browser. Yes, you can easily pin a webpage to the Start Menu by clicking on the Hub icon (triple period, or ellipses), but to get it on the desktop takes several painful steps.
There are other, smaller quirks in Microsoft Edge too. Although I haven’t encountered this, there have been many complaints about a lag in scrolling. What I have encountered is websites that seem to crash Edge, especially on real estate sites and other sites that are form-based.
If you have serious work to do and you’re on Windows 10, definitely don’t rely upon Microsoft Edge. At least not yet.
It’s not that I dislike Microsoft Edge. Actually, I sort of love it. But it still needs to mature a bit. As soon as Microsoft adds support for extensions, and syncing bookmarks, it could even become my every day browser.
For aNewDomain, I’m Sandy Berger.
Featured screenshot: Mark Kaelin
Body screenshot: Sandy Berger
