MS 'Edge' - Points and Pitfalls?

I receive assorted pop-up warnings from Mr. Gates' lot alleging that Internet Explorer is "out of date".

They've started trying to persuade me to install µS 'Edge' - I am not sure if it's a full www-browser or just the e-post service.

Points to watch for, please, be they Good, Indifferent, Bad or Downright Awful.

E.g. ease of use, compatibility with existing OS (MS WIN 7 Pro) & web-sites etc., user's control (blocking ads, " news" and other clutter, limiting eavesdropping), etc.

I send the Cavalry to rout edge out whenever it tries to make an appearance. Chrome+google or Firefox are far less intrusive and patronising..

Joe

Came with the families W10 PC and it works.

No idea about anything else to do with it.

Whatever browser one chooses, IE should definitely not be on the list. It's waaaay out of date, unsupported and potentially full of security risks. Edge seems to be liked by the computer press but for myself, I go for Firefox.

Come to that, Windows 7 is no longer fully supported and so will bring security risks. Win 10 is definitely the way to go.

I struggled to make sense of the security settings, got frustrated and now use Firefox.

Another plus for Firefox.

Brian

firefox

And another one

John

NetScape Navigator anyone?

But seriously, Edge or Chrome should be just fine. Whichever one you are using, select your preferred search engine rather that accept a default.

One thing to watch with EDGE is that although you can choose which search engine to use, it only uses that one for queries entered into the browser bar. As far as I can find, it's impossible to change the search engine that is used by the box in the middle of the "new page". That seems to use Bing regardless of the choice of search engine.

After posting my question I looked on MS' own web-site to see what it might tell me. I knew it would only talk it up, but I used the very limited Contact box (80 chrs) to say I'd like to ask a few questions.

Interestingly the site admits that Edge was intended to run only in W10, but due to the popularity (its word!) of 7 have matched it to that, and 8, as well. To me, that is MS admitting it has nothing new to offer, has run out of ideas, that each new OS is the same programme behind new waffle and complexity. Apart from trying to keep ahead of the hackers that MS's almost-monopoly have encouraged, one may ask just what Microsoft's approach really is, and how many of its developments and "up-grades" are genuinely necessary.

The MS site also states that Edge runs on basically the same software as Google Chrome... so is Edge merely Chrome with its own name?.

So essentially, avoid Edge if given the choice. I have not yet discovered how you use Firefox for e-messages. Or is the web-site search tool a totally different thing from the e-post service? I've not seen how and where these two functions separate.

'

V8Eng - well, yes. If you buy WIN10, Edge is wrapped up in it.

Clive - WIN 10 may be the "way to go" but that is what MS intends, and to whose benefit? I did install W10 when it was offered free, a year or so after buying this PC with W7, and it was so bad I reverted the system to 7.

'

Presently, IE asks if I want it as the default browser, and I answer no. I use Firefox for that.

IE though is both my e-post system and access to web-sites on which I have registered, including this one; and I can't see how, or if, Firefox gives me the same dual service.

Basically then, I leave IE switched off.... but how do I receive and send messages?

I used edge up till they made the major update, then it got too awkward to set some simple security controls.

Like many others above, I've used Firefox for years through its various versions, studiously ignoring all of M/soft's browser offerings.
However, the full version of Firefox has become a bit "resource heavy" of late. It is showing around 300Mb of memory usage just now on my system.
(Press Ctrl+Alt+Delete together in order to load Task Manager and see).
Whereas loading Edge instead shows it uses about 100Mb less.
So maybe if your system is short on memory (if still using Win 7 that maybe the case) then you might find Edge is less stressful despite its many annoyances & frustrations c/f Firefox.

If you care about privacy: Brave is best, Chrome & Firefox are OK, and Edge has been severely criticised, though Microsoft deny there's a problem.

If memory is short: Edge currently uses the least, while Chrome, Firefox & Brave are all about 20% heavier. Firefox uses more RAM than the others.

Firefox has the most extensions and add-ons

If unwilling to trust corporate giants, Firefox and Brave are clean, whereas Edge is Chromium extended by Microsoft and Chrome is Chromium extended by Google.

I use Firefox with security extensions at the moment. As the relative merits of Browsers changes over time I'm keeping an eye on Brave. Not had time to test it yet.

Microsoft say Internet Explorer shouldn't be used as a general purpose browser. Switch to something else if you can.

Dave

Edge works well on all Windows platforms from 7 up to present versions.

I personally use Firefox as it supports Adblocker+ better than all the other browsers.

regards

Post removed, decided it’s not worth replying to.

Edited By V8Eng on 09/04/2021 23:22:20

More and more sites are not working with IE, like Groups.io and HSM and I think one of the Federations of Model Engineers. On the other hand one of the services I use at work only functions with IE. My work computer under IT dept control has been gradually enabling parts of Edge, like the favourites bar only activated last week - yes it is designed to allow more control by corporate IT aswell. Added to that we have just gone to 365 and Teams is replacing Webex and Skype and a couple of other business applications in phases over the next year, just in time to complete re-learning as I retire.

I mostly use Firefox .... but the ESR version rather than the regular (effectively beta-test) version.

Vivaldi is well worth a look too.

Bazyle -

It does seem to be particular sites that elicit the warnings about IE, but I have not established any pattern to it. I had though discovered that some of the web-sites I have listed in my Engineering folders no longer work, so might they have moved to a format no longer recognised by IE?

I don't need worry about the business applications you list, like Team and Skype, but IE is my e-mail programme as well as web-browser. Though I am using Firefox more now as the browser, I can't see any alternative e-mail service. The pyrotechnic vulpine offers none.

'

V8Eng -

Sorry if I offended you, but I was not criticising your choice. I'm simply asking for advice.

I know Edge was written for WIN10 but works with WINs 7 and 8. I wish to know how it compares to IE, both favourably and unfavourably; and what traps to avoid ( if possible).

'

The upshot so far is that is without Internet Explorer, I may have a better browser in Firefox, but as far as I can see, would have no e-mail service.

I've just discovered one facet of FF (it's open as well as the IE I am using here). Clearing my browsing history leaves half a dozen links I have not searched for. These are Amazon, You-tube, Reddit, BBC News, E-bay and Facebook. FF does not know I do not use them, but probably assumes I do. (I have a radio for the News.)

Google is still hidden behind its "cookies" -wall. Powerful things, barricades of biscuits......

Nigel, for e-mail, one can use Thunderbird - it's free and from the same developers (Mozilla) as Firefox...

I use both, very happy with them.