Browser Wars: What’s New in Chrome and Edge
Google Chrome is still the undisputed browser champion in North America for desktop/mobile/tablet on Mac/iOS, Windows and of course Android at 53% of the market share. Safari has 30% of the market share. Microsoft’s Edge trails at a far distant 3rd place at a little over 8%. However, Edge has some new features, including a “work” browser version for Microsoft 365 subscribers that may help it move up in the competition.
Chrome
Google’s Chrome browser is 15 years old this month. The current official build, 116.0.5845.188, has an updated look and feel and some enhancements to functionality.
Google Password Manager
Google’s Chrome browser has helped to remember and fill in passwords for quite some time, but the newer password manager provides more control. For instance, you can import and export passwords, encrypt your passwords locally before they are saved to Google Password Manager, and get alerts if passwords are found online. Google Password Manager is accessible through the more menu (3 vertical dots) on the far-right side of the screen. You can search your passwords, run a password checkup, and more. Google Password Manager is not as robust as a purpose-built password management tool, but it is better than not using one.
Google Search Results with AI
If you want to see generative AI search results when you search from your Chrome browser you can turn on SGE in search results and while your browse webpages by turning it on in Google Labs. SGE in search results can be viewed by clicking on the gray G in the upper right corner. SGE search results appear at the top of your Google search results, with summary content, follow up suggestions, and more, followed by Google search results for your query.
The Side Panel
In the upper right corner of the browser there is a small button that looks like a square. Click on it to open the side panel and get easy access to your search history, AI search, reading mode, bookmarks, reading list, and more. The Reading List is different from Bookmarks. Open the side panel, choose “Reading List” and then “Add Current Tab” to create a quick way to get back to articles and other content. You can also right click on a tab to add it to your Reading List if don’t have the side panel open. You can mark tabs as read to move them to “read” in your reading list.
Performance Monitor
In Chrome click the vertical ellipses, scroll down to More Tools and choose “Performance”. You can adjust Memory Saver to free up memory from inactive tabs and keep Chrome running faster. You can add sites you want to keep active. You can also adjust the power saving settings.
Material You
Soon Chrome will be rolling out a new design language that has custom color palettes to help you distinguish between profiles (work login versus persona login, etc.).
Edge
Microsoft Edge replaced the oft maligned Internet Explorer. It is a much-improved browser, with some excellent features like collections and vertical tabs.
Workspaces
Create shared workspaces in the Edge browser by adding links and project files and then inviting team members to join. You can maintain a shared list of resources. Workspaces open as a new tab, similar to Chrome’s Grouped tabs, but you can take it a step further and invite your team to access the tab.
Edge for Business
Designed to let users toggle between work and personal accounts with their own favorites and storage, plus allow IT administrators to have more control over the MS 365 environment, Edge for Business is turned on when you log into the Edge browser with a MS 365 Business account.
Bing Chat Enterprise
With Edge for Business come Bing Chat Enterprise. Microsoft’s generative AI, Bing, has some built-in commercial data protection for business customers. Microsoft doesn’t retain prompts or responses In Bing Chat Enterprise and doesn’t use that information as part of the training data.
Sidebar + Outlook
Open your Outlook email in a sidebar to write and email while working in the browser. Or, open Google or any other website in the sidebar – just click the + sign to add. If you don’t see the Sidebar go to your settings and search for Sidebar to always show the sidebar and add or remove apps.
Search MS 365
When you are logged into the Edge browser and using Bing as your search engine you can search the web, or search your emails, Teams chats, SharePoint, and OneDrive files, and more. Just run a search and then click on “Work” to use the powerful Bing search engine to find your files and correspondence.
Conclusion
In conclusion, both Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge for Business have introduced new features that not only enhance the user experience but also cater to the specific needs of businesses. These updates are a testament to the continuous evolution of browsers in response to the changing digital landscape. As we move forward, it will be interesting to see how these browsers continue to innovate and shape our digital experiences.