One of the most important applications we choose is our internet browser. We actually work in that browser most of the time because many applications are now cloud-based, and to access them we have to go through a browser.
Over the years browsers have come and gone. A decade ago, Internet Explorer was the most used browser, and now it's retired. Google’s Chrome has been in the top spot for several years, but security and privacy issues have been eroding its popularity.
One browser that has been gaining in popularity since its release in 2015 is Microsoft Edge. Edge is the replacement for Internet Explorer. It’s taken a while for it to catch on but it's poised to become the new favorite, and for good reason.
Microsoft Edge recently surpassed Firefox in worldwide desktop browser market share and is now the #3 Desktop browser in the world behind Chrome and Safari. And it’s less than one percentage point behind Safari, so it is poised to jump into second place soon.
Current desktop browser market share:
· Chrome 64.8%
· Safari 9.77%
· Edge 9.6%
· Firefox 9.46%
· Opera 2.88%
· Internet Explorer 1.14%
Why has Edge become so popular in the last few years when it seemed to be slow out of the gate? One big reason is that it adopted the Chromium framework in 2020. This is the same background framework that Chrome uses and has increased the speed of the browser considerably, as well as mulitplied the number of extensions and add-ons that could be used with it.
You might want to consider switching to Microsoft Edge, and here are several great features for you to consider.
COLLECTIONS FOR STORING SETS OF PAGES
All browsers have some form of “favorites” or bookmarks to save webpage links. And as you're probably aware, these lists quickly become long and unorganized, making it hard to find what you’re looking for after a while.
Edge has a very nice feature called Collections. This allows you to save web pages in a sidebar and group them by topic. For example, you could create a topic called Vacation Planning and then save all the web pages from your trip research inside.
If there is an image on the page, that will show up to help you recognize the site. And collections are easy to access by using the “+” icon at the top of the browser.
Collections are also easy to delete once you’ve finished with them, so you won’t end up with endless webpage links, as tends to happen with bookmarks.
COUPONS
You don’t have to add a coupon app to your browser to get site coupons anymore. Edge does this automatically.
If it detects that there are coupons for a site you’re shopping on, you’ll get a popup and can click to automatically try any coupons available for that site.
This saves time searching for coupons on your own and ensures you don’t miss any potential savings.
PRICE COMPARISON
Another way that Edge helps you get the best deal when shopping online is through its pricing history and price comparison information. If you’re shopping on a website and the product that you’re viewing is cheaper on another site, Edge will let you know.
And it will shoe you a price history so you can see if this product is at its highest or lowest price related to the site you’re viewing. It's a great tool for saving money and ensuring you’re not missing out on savings by ordering the same item from a different retailer.
SECURITY FEATURES
There are several built-in security features that will help you avoid phishing sites with malware, as well as intrusive and annoying 3rd party advertising trackers. A password monitoring feature will let you know if any passwords you have stored have been involved in a breach.
You’ll also get Microsoft Defender SmartScreen protection for keeping you away from sites known to have malware or to have been used in phishing scams. While Google is sometimes criticized for lack of privacy, Microsoft Edge let's you choose from three tracking prevention settings to prevent as much of your personal information from being captured by advertisers as possible.
WEB CAPTURE FOR QUICK SCREENSHOTS
Taking screenshots and marking them in Edge is simple. In the browser menu, you just choose Web Capture, which will allow you to drag a rectangle across any region you like or to take a full shot of the screen, then bring that into a window if you’d like to add additional notes
IS YOUR INTERNET SECURITY WHERE YOU NEED IT TO BE?
Online security is important both at home and at work. Oakland Solutions LLC can help to ensure you have the right safeguards in place. Give us a call at 248-689-1439
Article used with permission from The Technology Press.