With Windows 10, users will be getting a whole new browser experience with the completely new and modern browser called Microsoft Edge. Edge will be the default browser of Windows 10 PCs, tablets, and smartphones. You can find it by going to the Start Menu and choosing All apps, but it's also pinned to the Start Menu as well as in the taskbar over here.
Edge runs on a new layout engine called EdgeHTML and includes some unique built-in features. The first thing you'll notice when you open up the Edge browser is that it has a clean, minimalist look.
Reviewing the Microsoft Edge Browser
The tabs are located where you usually find the title bar allowing you more room to view the content of the page you're browsing. To open up a new tab, you click the + button over here. Below the tab bar is another row of buttons and controls. To the left we have the standard navigation buttons Back, Forward, and Refresh. In the middle of the row is the the address box which is currently not visible here because on this page the search box is down below, but if you click in the center you’ll notice that the Search box comes up on top. If you notice closely, you’ll find that the Address bar also acts as a search box.
So if I type theapptimes it brings up the search results from Bing for me. Coming back to the buttons on the right of the bar, the first button here is the Reading view. This is useful when you want to read an article without getting distracted by the ads as it displays just the text and images in an easy-to-ready style.
When you click on an article you can see how the text is nice and big and only the images related to the article appear on the page. The Reading view is also responsive so it will adapt itself to any screen size you’re viewing. If you narrow your window you can see how the text flows to fit the width of the window. If you scroll down, you’ll also be able to see the images resize as well. If you’ve always disliked scrolling to the left and right to read an article, you’ll enjoy using this responsive browser.
The next button is the Favorites or Reading list button. You can use this to either bookmark a page as a Favorite, so you can easily return to it later, or you can add a page to your Reading list. To add a page to your Reading list, click it and then click Add. Any pages you add to your Reading list can be found by clicking the next button, which is called the Hub button.
Here I can click the Reading list tab to find the page that was just added. If you simply intend to read something later on and then remove it, the Reading List is a good place to save those links. To clear the list, you right-click the item and select Remove. This Hub area also stores your browsing history and downloads and is a great way to find all your historical data in one place.
The next button is the Web Note button and clicking on it brings up a collection of tools that lets you annotate and draw directly on the webpage. We have the Pen tool here which lets you draw on the page using your mouse. You can click the Pen again to change its color and size. Then there’s the Highlighter tool, which also lets you select a color and tip to markup something on your browser screen.
The main point of difference between the Pen and the Highlighter is that you can see through the marks behind a highlighted text but if you use the Pen, the text gets covered up. Next, we have the Eraser, which lets you click on annotations and delete them. This tool doesn’t allow you to get rid of certain strokes and only removes stuff entirely. Click the Eraser tool and choose Clear all ink to remove all annotations in one stroke.
Next, is the Note tool, which lets you type some text to take a note about something on the page. For example I can type something like, "Recommend this tool to the team." Lastly, we have the Clip tool. This lets you take a screenshot of a section of the page by drawing a rectangle around it. When you can see the word Copied appearing at the bottom of the clip, know that your selection has been copied to the clipboard, and you can paste this into any other app you want, like OneNote.
Let’s open up OneNote, and right-click on this empty note and choose Paste. The clipped section of the webpage is now copied onto the app. When you are finished with your annotations and notes, you can click the Save button. Here you have options to save your page to OneNote, your Favorites, or your Reading list.
If you want to share your annotated page via email, you can click the Share button over here. You can then click Exit to leave the annotation view. The last button on the right of the Edge browser is where you'll find miscellaneous menu items and features like private browsing, Zoom controls, Developer tools and other options. This is also where you'll find your Settings if you want to change your preferences. For example, you can select a different theme, this Dark one here will work perfectly well when you are using your computer in a low-light environment.
Overall, there's a lot to like about this new, speedy web browser that's built into Windows 10. However, if you’re still a big fan of the old browser, you’ll be happy to know that its still tucked away in Windows 10. Just open the Start Menu, select All apps, scroll down to Windows Accessories and there is the old, familiar Internet Explorer.
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