- Microsoft Edge offers vertical tabs for easy tab management, ideal for those with multiple tabs open for research or work.
- Microsoft Drop allows for easy file sharing between devices using OneDrive, a feature not available in Google Chrome.
- Edge comes with a variety of useful tools on the sidebar, such as a calculator and internet speed test, making tasks more convenient.
The battle between Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome has been fierce in the web browser space. Google Chrome dominates the market on paper, but that hasn’t stopped Microsoft from fast-tracking Edge development with useful tools and features. After using both browsers extensively for months on my laptop, here’s why I find Microsoft Edge better suited for my workflow.
Both Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome have covered the basics with cross-platform availability, extension support, glitch-free web browsing, and decent UI. However, when it comes to productivity tools, reader mode, and real-time collaboration, Edge truly deserves the coveted spot as your default browser.
Vertical tabs
Vertical tabs have to be one of my favorite features in Microsoft Edge. Whenever I sit at the desk and turn on my 32-inch Samsung M7 monitor, I quickly enable vertical tabs in Edge to check all the opened tabs without any compromises.
The typical horizontal tabs menu at the top quickly gets crowded after I open several tabs for research purposes. Yes, the tab groups do help with managing them, but it’s not an ideal solution when I want to glance over all the tabs at once. If you frequently work with a high number of tabs in Microsoft Edge, vertical tabs is a must-have feature for you. I’m also glad to see new browsers like Arc adopting vertical tabs by default.
6Microsoft Drop
Do you frequently share files between a desktop and a phone? Instead of connecting your cable or using cloud storage services, use Microsoft Drop to share files, media, and even notes between your devices. For instance, you can open Drop from the sidebar on Edge for Mac, write down a note or upload an image.
Now, open Drop from Edge for Android and download your files. The service is powered by OneDrive and comes in handy in specific situations. Google Chrome itself doesn’t have an equivalent solution for transferring data between devices.
5Useful tools
Microsoft Edge comes with a bunch of useful tools on the sidebar. You can check internet speed, crunch some numbers using a calculator, translate words, and explore other tools such as timer, stopwatch, dictionary and others. Among these tools, I use the calculator and speed test frequently. You can always use another tab in the browser or open a dedicated app to get the job done, but nothing beats the convenience of accessing what I need with a single click.
4Edge Workspaces
Microsoft Edge Workspaces offer another neat productivity add-on to improve your workflow. You can create a separate workspace to browse the web together in real-time with your team members or project group. You and your group can browse the same tabs simultaneously on different devices.
Microsoft Edge also offers a Skype-powered workspace chat menu to start a conversation about any topic with team members. You no longer need to switch between different apps for communication vs. browsing the web. For example, you can have multiple shopping tabs open and share the workspace with your better half to ask their opinion before hitting the buy button. The possibilities are endless here.
3Screenshot tool
While there are dozens of screenshot extensions out there, they all feel pale in comparison to Edge’s built-in tool for taking snapshots. You can enable and snap screenshots, run a visual search, and even explore markup tools.
I use the latter all the time. I can quickly take a picture, use the markup tool, and share it with a recipient in no time. With Chrome, you need to rely on third-party extensions or the built-in system tool to get the job done.
2Reader mode
After years of anticipation, Google came up with a lackluster reader mode in Chrome. It basically opens a small sidebar with article content and doesn’t really do a good job of removing distracting elements from the main article.
Microsoft hit it out of the park with a robust reader mode in Edge. Just click the reader icon in the address bar and let it simplify the web content in seconds. You can select the option to read aloud a post, and tweak the text and reading preferences for a personalized experience. Whenever I come across a webpage with too many unnecessary elements, I rely on Edge’s reader mode to glance over relevant content.
1Edge Collections
Thanks to Edge Collections, I no longer need to rely on cumbersome bookmarks to track and save web pages. Edge Collections elevate the entire setup to another level by combining sites under a relevant section. You can even add a note to keep track of other details for your saved web pages. I prefer Collections over bookmark groups, in order to manage my related web pages in a way that I would want to logically access them.
Time to switch to Microsoft Edge?
Although Microsoft scores high in productivity, file-sharing, and collaboration, it isn’t void of issues. The out-of-box Edge experience is horrendous for an average user, and you’ll likely need to dig through settings to tweak the Edge experience as per your preferences.
