Microsoft Edge was a big focus at Microsoft’s annual Build developer conference, and the browser is getting several new features.
Microsoft Build, the company’s annual developer conference is officially underway, and a product that is getting extra special attention at the event is the Microsoft Edge web browser. It is getting updated with a completely new design, and picking up several business-first features like the powerful Microsoft 365 AI Copilot in the sidebar to speed you through work-related tasks (which even will integrate with a Chat GPT plugin).
There’s even a new dedicated work experience in Edge, dubbed Microsoft Edge for Business to better help separate your work and personal web browsing experiences. That’s on top of new features for developers and IT admins, like Progressive Web Apps in the sidebar, and V8 improvements enhance JavaScript functions. If you missed any of the action, here’s everything you need to know.
A new look for Microsoft Edge
Credit: Microsoft
Though it’s been in testing in the Microsoft Edge Canary channel for a while now, and detailed back when Microsoft first launched Bing Chat, Microsoft revisited Edge’s redesign during Build 2023. It’s the feature most consumers and everyday Edge users will care about. The browser will match Windows 11’s design with features like rounded corners, translucent backgrounds, and fluid animations. Microsoft also moved the profile icon to the left side of the screen, making it easier to swap between accounts. Under the hood, meanwhile, Microsoft is rolling out a container system for the browser, helping you multitask with ease.
Microsoft 365 Copilot comes to Edge
Credit: Microsoft
While the redesign is the biggest highlight, Microsoft also detailed that it’s going to bring Microsoft 365 Copilot to Edge. It was previously available across Teams, Microsoft365.com, and Bing, but now it has a bigger home. This is a business feature, but it’s something that you’ll be sure to appreciate if you use Edge in the workplace. Microsoft 365 copilot will live in the side of the browser and pulls information from the rest of Microsoft 365 (like your emails, calendar, and documents) and will give you a chat-based interface to assist in work-based things like generating status updates, or short summaries of documents. Microsoft 365 Copilot will support plugins, too, including ones for Chat GPT, and Bing or Teams. Beyond that, developers will be able to build their own plugins for the experience.
Smaller AI-related updates for Edge include the addition of Microsoft Search to surface contextually relevant files and SharePoint sites in the Edge bar of Edge. The FInd on Page experience is also getting Smart Find, which will help correct errors relating to searching for something in a page’s context. You’ll even get text prediction, to write faster.
Microsoft Edge for Business & Edge Microsoft Workspaces
Credit: Microsoft
The third Microsoft Edge announcement is Microsoft Edge for Business. This is for users that are leveraging the browser in enterprise scenarios. Now in preview on managed devices, and coming soon to unmanaged devices, this experience is designed so you can properly separate your work browsing from your personal browsing. Microsoft Edge for Business has an adjusted icon, and other visual elements to set it apart from standard Edge, in addition to enterprise controls that IT admins need. Work-related sites will automatically open in Edge for Business, as well as sites that require work logins. Users will also be able to go back and forth between work and personal windows and configure settings for which site is for work and which is for personal.
Related is Microsoft Edge Workspaces, which is now moving out of preview in the coming months. This isn’t a new feature as it’s been i public preview, but it helps you share the same set of browser tabs, and project websites or files in the browser with your colleagues in real-time. Microsoft says that “thousands” of customers signed up for this experience since it was first announced.
Developer features
Credit: Microsoft
On the developer side of things, there are several improvements coming to Edge. The most notable is the ability to recode apps to run in the Microsoft Edge sidebar. This is now generally available and should take minimum lines of code, according to Microsoft. This is in addition to a Focus mode in Microsoft Edge DevTools, which has a refreshed interface with more customizability across the Activity Bar and Quick View. We also can’t forget features like the new JSON Viewer, which eliminates the need to use a browser extension to inspect JSON data. Other Edge developer features can be seen below.
- You can see JavaScript stack frames in ETW traces for JIT-compiled JavaScript functions.
- Web Assembly interpreter for Enhanced Security Mode scenarios.
- You can use the Microsoft Quick Authentication library to authenticate users using their Microsoft Account (MSA).
- Users will be able to make in-app purchases from the Microsoft Store within Microsoft Edge PWA apps.
- Developers of PWA apps that are published in the Microsoft Store will be able to use the Digital Goods API to query their digital product details, view existing purchases, check past purchase history, consume a purchase, and use the Payment Request API
Other things like the ability to take screenshots faster with the memory tool, and new features like enhanced traces and selector stats cap out the list of developer features. Note that Microsoft is also bringing Edge WebVIew2 to HoloLens (in preview) and Xbox (coming later this year.)
IT Admin features
IT admins are also going to Edge some new Edge features. While Microsoft Edge for Business should already make their life easier, there’s the new Edge management service. This is a new dedicated management experience for Microsoft Edge within the Microsoft 365 admin center. It will be coming in preview over the next few months and is designed to help manage group policies and extensions in a simple and easy-to-understand user interface with drop-down menus instead of JSON values.
Those are all the Edge features Microsoft announced this week at Build 2023. It’s just one of many things, including the ability to restore pinned apps from the Microsoft Store, and a similar AI Copilot feature in Windows 11. We’ll have a full recap of all the most important announcements coming up soon.