The release of Windows 10 on Wednesday highlighted one feature that has immensely excited the tech media: the Microsoft Edge. This is the browser that replaced the 20-year-old Internet Explorer, the iconic but also much maligned browser, decimated by the introduction of much powerful and secure rivals such as Chrome and Firefox.
Initial hands-on results show that the Microsoft Edge trumps Firefox in web security and could hold its own against Chrome, surpassing it in some speed tests, Business Insider noted.
Microsoft says the new browser is "at the edge of modern web standards and capabilities," hence, the name Edge, according to Mashable. This was the motivation behind the decision to drop Internet Explorer. Drew DeBruyne, director of program management at Microsoft, said that the move was difficult for the company and that the proposal to build a new browser from scratch took long to be accepted. In the end, Microsoft Edge was developed to address the growing dominance of rivals after several failed attempts at upgrading its predecessor.
Like its code name, Project Spartan, Microsoft Edge sports a very minimalistic interface, with few icons and a very subdued design. It is powered by a new rendering engine, which is based on Microsoft's Trident technology.
The benchmarks are only rolling, as early adopters start getting to know the brand new browser. But users can expect to encounter some challenges. For instance, the browser does not currently support extensions, although Microsoft promises it will be supported in the future. Beta News also rounded up possible security risks, such as the integration of PDF reader and Adobe Flash plugins, the windows.data.pdf.dll and the support for asm.js. All of these purportedly pose potential threats that both Microsoft and the users must watch out for. PC World offered a complete walkthrough for users who are befuddled with the changes.
Microsoft Edge's introduction will not immediately translate into the demise of the Internet Explorer. It is still included in Windows 10 as a backup browser for websites that are still not supported or will not render correctly.
