Microsoft's Edge browser will add vertical tabs and tracking prevention
The new features are focused around usability and privacy.
Microsoft finally did the deed and killed Internet Explorer. The company's new browser, Edge, is much more promising, and is even getting some compelling features that differentiate it from the likes of Chrome and Firefox. Today, the company announced enhancements like vertical tabs, password monitoring and tracking prevention -- as well as a mobile version of its useful Collections feature.
Edge -- which is built on Google's open-source Chromium -- allows adventurous users to test out new features in its Insider program. Microsoft hopes to enable vertical tabs for its testing community in the next few months. The feature will provide an uncluttered view of the tabs the user has open, allowing for more intuitive switching. The screenshot provided by Microsoft makes it look like a user will be able to scroll through a list that shows the favicon and name of each open website. This will hopefully prevent the common headache of closing the wrong tab.
One unique feature that Edge currently offers on desktop is called Collections. Users can drag articles they're researching into the Collections area, and Edge will organize the information into a visually pleasing arrangement, ready for quick reference or for printing. Microsoft says that the workflow is coming soon to the mobile version of Edge. This might be useful for doing light research on-the-go and then hunkering down when a user is back on their laptop or desktop.
Some more minor updates will be coming to Edge, as well. Tracking prevention lets a user choose from three presets of security measures to fit their preferences, while Password Monitor will let a user know if their credentials have been exposed on the dark web. Finally, Immersive Reader provides a distraction-free mode so users can concentrate on reading an article.
These updates show that Microsoft is serious about contending with Google and Mozilla. Hopefully the competition will bring some innovation to web browsers, which haven't seen a major revolution in some time.
