The new version of Microsoft's browser, optimized for Windows 10 and based on Chromium, is about to arrive on all PCs. Here are the major news
Microsoft has started the gradual distribution of the new version of its Edge browser, which little by little will be automatically downloaded and installed on PCs running Windows 10 via Windows Update. On Linux and macOS, on the other hand, the new version of the browser will have to be downloaded manually.
On Windows, the new version of Edge is available for those who have their operating system updated to at least version 1803, which is the first six-monthly update of 2018. But while with Windows 10 2004 and 1909 we just have to wait for the automatic download of Microsoft's new browser, on older versions it is necessary to install some OS updates first: KB4517389, KB4523205 and KB4525237. The distribution, in any case, will be gradual, so if Windows Update doesn't propose it automatically among the available updates, then we'll just have to wait.
This is, for the Microsoft browser, a fairly substantial update thanks to which Edge begins to take a path quite distinct from Google Chrome, despite being based on the code of the open source project Chromium.
Microsoft Edge: what's new in the update
The first important new feature of the new Edge is the increased compatibility with Chrome extensions. With the new version of Edge, according to Microsoft, virtually all Chrome extensions work without any problems. Microsoft also claims to have optimized the performance of the new version quite a bit, especially on Windows 10, and this should be especially noticeable in 4K streaming.
Big news to the user interface as well, with the ability to group open tabs not only horizontally but also vertically. It is now possible to save Pinterest photos between Collections (a very powerful feature, but still little used by users). A smart copy/paste feature will also be available, which copies and pastes not only text but also formatting. Finally, another feature that could prove to be very useful is the one that allows us to select one or more words in a Web page and launch a search for those words in a column that will open on the right, on the same page. This way you won't have to jump from one tab to another.
How to install the new Microsoft Edge
The best choice, if Windows Update doesn't offer us the new version of Edge yet, is to wait. It's only a matter of time, in a couple of weeks at most the new version of the browser will arrive on our computer. If you want, you can also force the update, or at least try, by going to https://www.microsoft.com/it-it/edge and downloading the proposed version. Which, however, is not always the latest.