If you thought the browser wars were over, think again. Microsoft has made some startling improvements to its Edge browser recently that gave it an impressive 41 percent speed boost. That suddenly puts it in the running for the fastest, if not the best and most robust browser in the game. The speed boost is but the latest in a string of innovations that has consistently improved the Redmond giant’s latest browser offering.
Earlier this year, Edge was given support for sleeping tabs, which increase overall system performance by minimizing the CPU usage of tabs you’re not currently browsing.
Late last year, we got our first look at Edge’s “Vertical Tab” arrangement allowing you to move your open tabs from the top to a configuration where they run down the left side of your browser window so that you can customize and configure the browser depending on how you use it. You can even switch between the two tab layouts at the touch of a button.
Later this month, yet another improvement will be rolling out. It will allow you to drag links from any open tab in the standard layout, to the vertical layout, and vice versa.
Then there’s the increase in speed itself, which has been dubbed ‘Startup Boost’. It automatically maximizes your device performance by reducing the amount of time it takes to open the browser after a reboot, or after closing then reopening the browser.
We’re not sure why anyone would, but if you find yourself not liking the impressive boost in speed, you can even turn it off by accessing the settings menu and turning the new feature off.
Apple and Google will no doubt work double time to match Microsoft’s latest moves, but in the short run, it gives the Edge browser a compelling advantage. Kudos to Microsoft for pushing browser performance to new heights!
