Original Edge Features

[Mason425]

I just had a few questions about whether or not some features from the original Edge will be returning with this new version. The team that is building Edge has done a fantastic job in bringing the next great Microsoft browser. The features I am referring to are Cortana integration, tab previews, set-aside tabs, and lastly marking up pages. Something that made the original Edge great was how it tied in seamlessly with Windows 10 and everything in it, including having Cortana integrated into the browser itself. Cortana being in the browser was very handy when it came to doing anything in the browser. Cortana could suggest other websites to look at or suggesting just the thing you were looking for when you searched. It's a little difficult to name all the ways Cortana helped, but she was very useful nonetheless. If there is a way to put Cortana back in that would be fantastic. I don't want Edge to lose those features that were solely Microsoft that made the browser special and unique. You couldn't find another browser out there that could tie in to all the stuff on a Windows computer like settings, Cortana, and One Drive. I miss that seamless interaction between Windows and Edge, due to the fact that Edge at the time was an entirely Microsoft developed browser, made to work the best and be most compatible with Windows 10. It may be difficult to meet those requests now that Edge is now entirely independent of Windows. Also, does Edge still have protection with Windows Defender? That was one of the big reasons that I used Edge originally. 

Now on to other features. Will tab previews and set-aside tabs be coming back in the new Edge? They were some very handy and useful features that helped when working with a lot of tabs. Set-aside tabs was very useful to temporarily remove some extra tabs that weren't really necessary for the current task, so that they were not in your way. Marking up pages was a very useful feature for people with touch screen devices, and probably for the most part, Surface users. Those are some features from the original Edge that made it special and a very good browser choice (even though many people didn't really appreciate them, and used other browsers instead). The original Edge was a great browser, even though media heavy pages didn't really load very fast, it still had a really good speed for normal websites. I understand that it was time for a big upgrade to accommodate for modern times where extensions and compatibility are very important in web browsing. I just don't want Edge to become better in the aspects of speed and compatibility, but leave behind some of those features that made it unique before. If it is just fast and compatible and has generic Microsoft services, what really sets it apart from Chrome and any other browser? Yes, I know there are a few things already that make the new Edge a bold choice for a browser, like security and privacy, many customization options, and very transparent settings, but I think that we should combine the things that make the original and new Edge special and unique and put them together in the new Edge. If all these things happen, then Edge could probably have people running from Chrome in minutes. (Also, why do people like Chrome so much, the original Edge had WAY more features than Chrome does. Chrome really is just a generic browser. What does Chrome really have that makes it very special as a browser? I mean the browser itself, you can access Google work spaces and Google websites from literally any browser. Really the only thing Chrome has going for it is extension compatibility, but now Edge and countless other browsers have that too.)

[#2]

The Edge team is currently in discussion about marking up pages and Cortana features (https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/discussions/ask-cortana-ask-bing-discussion/m-p/1017941). I agree it's sad that some features were lost, but a lot of the most important ones are seemingly making their way back in. I don't know if tab previews are coming back in, but set aside tabs is implemented in the Dev (I think?) channel through Collections--right clicking on a tab gives you the option to add all tabs to a collection.

Microsoft Defender SmartScreen is still implemented into Edge.

Though Edge currently lacks pretty much all touch support, I've been that the team is working on adding it in, though I don't know when we'll be able to see that.

Click on the link to that Cortana discussion to add your input on the Cortana features you liked the most--they seem to be focusing more on Ask Cortana, but I'm sure it would be really useful to them if you added your input on the suggestions she automatically gave, which were definitely very useful!

[#3]

Here's the discussion thread for marking up web pages: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/Discussions/Inking-on-Web-Pages-Discussion/m-p/1006005

[#4]

@martinnn 

Thanks for telling me about some of those features that are under way. I have experimented with collections a little bit, but it's not really like set-aside tabs, it's more of just putting a link in a folder to access later. I will admit, it is very useful for research projects or shopping, but it really doesn't function well as a set-aside tabs alternative.

And what I was asking about the Windows Defender thing, I know that they have implemented "Microsoft Defender" Smart Screen into the new Edge, but I don't really know if it works with the actual Windows Defender security app on Windows computers. The original Edge worked with Windows Defender to provide security. But now Edge is built on Chromium and not Microsoft software, so I don't know if that still works. I don't think it does because the "Microsoft Defender" Smart Screen exists on any version of the browser which can now be downloaded onto any device (like Mac), and Edge isn't a Windows only browser anymore. To me it seems like the Smart Screen in the new Edge is just something that Microsoft made to replace the Windows Defender compatibility from before. Essentially I am saying that Edge now runs and uses security measures entirely independent of Windows. But I suppose that it is possible that they can continue to update the security intelligence in Edge to match Windows Defender.

[#5]

@Mason425 

I know Collections isn't currently like Set Aside Tabs, but they're adding the functionality--it's not in the Stable or Beta builds yet, so you probably don't have access to it yet.

Here you can see that it's enabled in the Dev and Canary builds, and here is a discussion about the feature if you want to talk about your opinions with the Edge team.

I'd suggest using the feedback button in Edge to tell them that you want better integration with Windows Defender on Windows, though I'm not sure if they will integrate it since they want to simplify the cross-platform experience.

[#6]

@martinnn 

Yeah, good point about it needing to be more simple for cross platform experiences. I guess that it doesn't really matter as long as the Smart Screen in the new Edge is as effective and will receive all the security intelligence updates on what files are dangerous (to keep up with modern malware).