Trying the new Chromium-based Microsoft Edge browser

PC_Ace

Hauling Heavy Pixels
The development of Microsoft's new Chromium-based browser has come a long way in recent weeks and there are a few builds open for Windows Insiders' trial.
As a web developer, I chose the Dev version.
I've set it as my default browser for the time being whilst I evaluate its ongoing development progress. Current build is Version 74.1.96.24 (Official build) dev (64-bit)
Seems impressive; Is fast and responsive, so far.
It is missing a few of the unique bells and whistles distinguishing the current version of Microsoft Edge for 64 bit Windows from competitive browsers (like Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and the like) but they will be added in due course.
Seems to handle this forum's ancient HTML and CSS with aplomb! (Which is a lot better than the way earlier beta versions of Edge handled Trainz discussion forum editing sessions a few years back). :wave:
Have you been playing with this new browser lately?
What do you think so far?
 
Sounds interesting, notably your comment about handling older HTML and CSS.

I used to make my own business websites and always had to add extra coding just to get the old IE to display them properly, it was a terrible browser and caused many problems.
I dislike the current iteration but wouldn't it be nice to have just one browser instead of several in order to get a good browsing experience.

i am not an Insider but will be happy to learn of your experiences, I wonder if Malc is using it, he's an Insider too.
 
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No I haven't bothered with the Chromium Edge yet, although heard some favourable reports, I tend to stick with Firefox which works well, if you don't stuff it full of add-ons!
 
One of the things I dislike about Chrome was how menu items (bookmarks?) are strung out horizontally on a ribbon which inevitably scrolls off screen. Edge at least organized things in drop-down menus. So my question about Chromium Edge is; does it have vertical or horizontal menu structure?
 
Dinorius_Redundicus - It's configurable according to the personalisation whim of the user. I also dislike horizontal bookmark bars and banish them from all browser variants (and I run them all) when their creators allow.
This new Edge variant allows you to turn the 'Favorites' bar off, which I have done.
I particularly like the clean, easy-to-use menus and settings dialogs (which non-Insiders will also see soon in the latest non-Chromium version of Edge in the May Update) that have been retained.
Yes, there are exclusive new browser Extensions now available from Microsoft and the ability to run the far more numerous Google Chrome ones as well, but very few of these are of any interest to me.
Looking forward to the future inclusion of some Edge-exclusive features I use on the current non-Chromium edition, like the Reading View, Read Aloud and Mark-up Inking, etc.
Right now though, I appreciate its speed, simplicity and focus on core mainstream browsing tasks. The UI is more reminiscent of Firefox Quantum than Google Chrome, though of course, the underlying Chrome roots are plainly there too.

Edit Update: Just found that it already has the 'Read Aloud' feature...
 
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PC_Ace,

So let me get this straight. The horizontal favourites bar can be turned on or off - Chrome does that too - but can the favourites ever be listed as a vertical menu in Chromium Edge?

D
 
Yes - If you go to the settings 'hamburger' and drop down the list, it will show the favorites you've currently set under the Favorites heading, listing the contents vertically in the fly-out.
 
Can you copy and paste directly from Edge into another application other than a text editor?

I find it very annoying now with Edge where you need to copy some text and paste it into another application, but end up with the wrong information from a previous copy or nothing at all. The only way to get the current information is to paste it into a text box first then copy and paste that into the application.

I thought it was OS-related, but it's not. The copy from the browser into the application works fine in Opera which is another Chromium based browser.

I'm an Insider, but did not sign up for the Edge beta and prefer to wait.
 
Can you be more specific about these failing copy/ paste ops into which particular applications?
I have no problems copy/pasting text (and other) content from both Edge and the new Chromium-based beta.
Use Windows + V to see the contents of your clipboard to see whether it is being made available to other applications (and is not some earlier clipboard item).
 
Can you be more specific about these failing copy/ paste ops into which particular applications?
I have no problems copy/pasting text (and other) content from both Edge and the new Chromium-based beta.
Use Windows + V to see the contents of your clipboard to see whether it is being made available to other applications (and is not some earlier clipboard item).

A simple highlight some text in the browser then paste it into another application. When this occurred initially I thought I had a sticky CTRL key, but then the problem occurred on my brother too. A good example is Corel Draw, Page Plus, or even KUIDS into Content Manager. It's as if the text is ignored completely and nothing has been pasted. I can copy and paste fine within Edge so if I happen to highlight something here, I can paste it later without issue. If I happened to have captured something, using either the CTRL+C or right-click Copy, and pasted that into a plain text file, it works fine, but going to an application does not. Because of this, I use a plain text file as a go between container when I need to copy/paste a load of text, or KUIDS because I don't want to end up reselecting stuff all over.

Sometimes things I copied and pasted within the browser will remain in the cut buffer and end up being pasted instead of the intended text. This is really annoying when there's an intended copy/paste of KUIDS and I end up pasting a text string like a URL instead. I'm not the only one that has this issue.

Using Opera and everything works fine for both of us. The only thing I can think of is some kind of security protection is in place that's causing that issue, but I can't find where the settings would be unless it's one of the many obtuse and obscure settings in the gpedit or secpol management consoles, but my cursory check showed nothing obvious.

I have reported this to Microsoft on the Feedback Hub, and they say they're looking into it, but that status hasn't changed and this is probably at the very bottom of the list.
 
Ok - tried copy paste some of your text above to CorelDraw and it pasted flawlessly using the new version of Edge.
The old one balked at the prospect, however, and did not detect the contents of the clipboard from the context menu or respond to a Ctrl+V paste command.
Might need to go in as an import command/ paste special or whatever. (Haven't used CorelDraw for a while, so I'll need to check further and re-familiarise myself with the venerable application).
KUIDs into Content Manager worked a treat with the Chromium version AND Edge, so not sure why it isn't working for you.
<kuid2:101839:22229:1> 2 Track Steel Bridge, Blue Brick, Brown Ballast with coping stones
KUIDs transfer ok from Edge to Notepad++ etc. as well as any clipboard text.
 
Ok - tried copy paste some of your text above to CorelDraw and it pasted flawlessly using the new version of Edge.
The old one balked at the prospect, however, and did not detect the contents of the clipboard from the context menu or respond to a Ctrl+V paste command.
Might need to go in as an import command/ paste special or whatever. (Haven't used CorelDraw for a while, so I'll need to check further and re-familiarise myself with the venerable application).
KUIDs into Content Manager worked a treat with the Chromium version AND Edge, so not sure why it isn't working for you.
<kuid2:101839:22229:1> 2 Track Steel Bridge, Blue Brick, Brown Ballast with coping stones
KUIDs transfer ok from Edge to Notepad++ etc. as well as any clipboard text.

It looks like the new one solves that issue.

How about clearing history, to bring up another annoyance?

Type URLs remain even after clearing history in the current version. This is a bit more than just annoying and represents a security issue. If for example, someone uses a public computer, their typed URL history remains even after clearing the history. This also presents a privacy issue too. If for example and adult uses a computer, then a child uses it. Typing in a partial URL brings up the content in the MRU cache, causing the browser to jump to that address. Now, in case you're wondering, no I don't go searching for naughty bits, but the thought crossed my mind. This also presents an issue too with online banking, etc. It may not keep the passwords, but it can give someone else an idea of where you bank, shop online, or visit.

The actual browser MRU information is kept here in the registry:

Code:
[FONT=Verdana,Arial,Tahoma,Calibri,Geneva,sans-serif]Computer\HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-21-3020367668-2943355422-1619233008-1001\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\AppContainer\Storage\microsoft.microsoftedge_8wekyb3d8bbwe\Children\001\Internet Explorer\DOMStorage\account.microsoft.com[/FONT]

The individually listed addresses need to be removed manually, or the registry key needs to be replaced with a blank to clear the cached information.

I reported this to the Feedback hub, but haven't heard much more that "We're looking into it". Being an old IT guy, it's things like this that used to keep me up at night!
 
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