At Build 2019, Microsoft announced a slew of new features for the new Chromium-based Microsoft Edge browser. Currently under development with a public developer preview, the upcoming Microsoft Edge is touted as the replacement for the existing Edge browser built into Windows 10.
Chromium is Google’s open-source web browser project that also supplies the vast majority of the code for the Google Chrome browser. Microsoft has already landed over 400 commits into Chromium, improving the experience in all Chromium browsers on Windows and even frameworks like Electron.
IE Mode
Microsoft believes that one of the fundamental frustrations with today’s browsers in enterprises is the need to have multiple browsers. According to the company, more than 60% of businesses use multiple browsers to run legacy Internet Explorer-based apps.
The new IE mode in Microsoft Edge will integrate Internet Explorer 11 directly via a tab allowing businesses to run those legacy apps in a modern browser with full IE11 compatibility.
Additional Privacy Controls
The company has also announced that the next version of Microsoft Edge will offer additional privacy controls allowing customers to choose from three levels of privacy – Unrestricted, Balanced and Strict – via a privacy dashboard.
Depending on the option you pick, Microsoft Edge will adjust how third parties can track you across the web, giving customers more choice and transparency.
Collections
Another new feature is Collections that aims to address the information overload we face on the web. The feature will help users collect, organize, share, and export content more efficiently and also packs in Office integration so that intelligent export to apps like Word and Excel preserves the logical structure of the content.
According to Microsoft, Collections is in its early stages. The company is looking to gather feedback on the experience before it makes its way to the preview builds.
Microsoft also gave a first look of the new Microsoft Edge powered WebView for Windows developers which brings the fidelity of the Chromium platform to Win32 and UWP Windows apps for sophisticated hybrid apps.
Microsoft has shared that these features and more will begin to roll out near the broader launch of the next version of Microsoft Edge, although one assumes it will be available sooner to the Microsoft Edge Insiders since the company runs an active Dev and Canary channel for the previews builds.
