Microsoft Edge just got killer upgrades to fight Chrome

Microsoft Edge
(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

Microsoft Edge users will be pleased to see big changes coming to their chosen browser in the near future. 

Within the patch notes for Edge Dev build 88.0.705.9, (via OnMSFT) we can see the details for what Microsoft has introduced in this version. While none of these are guaranteed to make it to the stable version that you or I use, their presence is an encouraging sign that these are features we'll eventually be able to try ourselves.

If you don't already use a password manager, Edge can now take care of that job for you. It's able to generate passwords for you to use, and copy and edit passwords it stores. It'll mean your various accounts around the web are more secure.

While it seems unlikely that you'd be using Edge on a MacOS device, if you are you can now use picture-in-picture mode. As you'd expect, when playing a YouTube video or other video content, you can now set it to pop up in front of another window while still playing. The Microsoft blog post mentions "Support on other devices [is] coming later" for PIP, but the feature is already live at least on the Windows 10 version of Edge.

Another improvement is a change to the History menu to make recently closed tabs more accessible via a button near the search bar. This menu can also be pinned as a side pane, like Edge's Favorites menu, for easy access. There's a bunch of smaller refinements, too, that should make using Edge a much more pleasurable experience, like allowing non-Windows users the ability to add text notes to PDF files, a useful markup feature.

Like we said before, it'll be some time before these Edge Dev features come to the standard Edge app that consumers use. If you want to try them now, you'll need to join the Microsoft Edge Insider program, which sees the newest features being added in a weekly update.

Richard Priday
Assistant Phones Editor

Richard is based in London, covering news, reviews and how-tos for phones, tablets, gaming, and whatever else people need advice on. Following on from his MA in Magazine Journalism at the University of Sheffield, he's also written for WIRED U.K., The Register and Creative Bloq. When not at work, he's likely thinking about how to brew the perfect cup of specialty coffee.