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The stable version of the upcoming Chromium-based Microsoft Edge browser might have just leaked online, but that doesn’t mean it’s complete. While the browser has come a long way since it was first accounced, Microsoft knows there’s still plenty to do before it can replace its old and rusting version of Edge.
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An Edge developer posted on the Microsoft Tech Community to highlight some of the things the company has already implemented on either the Dev or Canary builds of the new browser, as well as some of the areas of improvements the company has on its roadmap. The development teams has brought dark mode to the browser and integration with Bing Translate, new privacy settings to allow those to choose what to clear every time they close their browser, Reading View for web articles, and support for Azure Active Directory accounts.
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Over the coming months, the company plans to release a multitude of additional features and improvements as well. Next month, the company players to roll out a feature allow those to disable the auto-playing of video and audio from websites, as well as scrolling improvements and a favorites button on the browser’s toolbar. The company also plans to bring back PDF inking in October, in addition to:
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- When you sign-in to the browser, your sign-in profile picture will accurately be kept up to date.
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- When you have more than one profile, better handling for opening links and attachments in the appropriate profile.
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- An option to set your own photos as the background image on the New Tab Page
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- Enable search in the extensions store
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- A bug fix for users who receive an “Administrator Mode Detected” notification (advising them to close and relaunch the browser in non-administrator mode) each time they launch Edge
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- ClickOnce deployment of Windows applications from web pages
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Microsoft says it continues to listen to feedback about the experience of the browser, and encourages those to continue providing feedback so that it can improve the browser even further. Some areas that users frequently suggest need improvement include better CPU and memory optimizations, improvements to scrolling, fixes to the drop-down menus in webpages, as well as improvements to the update process. The company says it’s also looking into other feature requests including:
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- Feature requests for the New Tab Page, including the capability to turn off the news feed, to hide the Bing search bar, to change the search provider, to rename tiles, and to support Dark Theme
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- Bring back features from the current version of Microsoft Edge such as tab set aside, tab preview, “Ask Cortana”, and the reading list
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- Make it easier to share web content with other users and apps
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- Provide an option to set a custom home page
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- Update the user interface with the Fluent Design System, including less rounded tabs
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- Support themes from the Chrome Web Store
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- Allow sign-in to the browser with a Google account
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- Provide different options for sorting favorites
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- Provide run / open / save / save as options when downloading files
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Users are encouraged to continue providing feedback and reporting bugs as the new Edge gets closer to official launch. Also, we encourage you to share your thoughts on the overall progress and what new features the company need to implement in the comment area below.
\n\nFurther reading: Edge Insider, Microsoft, Microsoft Edge, Windows 10