The Edge

I have been using Edge for about a month now, mostly as a browser dedicated to work. Overall Microsoft Edge is clean looking, very customizable, and with a bunch of settings and features. Every theme and extension I use (not a lot) are available for Edge, and then some.

I will do my best to describe some of the features that works well, and perhaps relate to some of my experiences when using Edge for my work. 

Collections is a feature in Edge which enables you to collect data on various specific topics, at the same time. You can add notes, images, add links to each topic in a filing system or... Collections. These collections can be accessed,  shared and edited across devices, and between team members. I have been using Pocket, Favorites, Booksmarks etc. for this type of task, but it never really worked well. Collections is a tool that adds value, since it is inside the browser, easy to add content to, and it's fast to access the right content again.

It seems like Microsoft have been experimenting on the right type of feature and how to make it work for their users. I have seen how UX experts can help programmers, designers, and decision makers throw away their assumptions, and work based on the users' need and behaviour. It requires time and money, but the result is a great feature. 

This rocks! An easy split screen feature enables you to quickly look at two tabs side by side inside the browser. I use it a lot for research, comparison and many other unforseen purposes. Microsoft sells this feature on an optimized shopping experience, which I can understand. Comparing products just became much easier. For web editing you can see your backend and frontend in each split, and see your changes on the fly.

What have they been doing at Microsoft? Another great feature! Grouping and pinning tabs are such nice details, which I use more than expected. 

Now the vertical tabs makes sense

The vertical feature makes a lot of sense with the group and pin features. I couldn't really figure out what the benefit was until I started using grouping and pins. It takes a few hours getting used to, but works quite well. It's a habit for me to always have certain tabs open related to a project or the task I'm doing. Usually I have to find the page, add new tabs with other pages, and login to each one. Now everything is stored in tab-groups, perhaps pinned, quick to open, and the login process is easy with my Bitwarden password manager. Edge also has a built-in password manager you can use if you prefer. Combined with the Workspaces feature (see further down), this really improves the user experience and productivity massively.

It all comes together with Workspaces. 

Workspaces is like having several separate browser windows - including tabs and more in each window - in one browser, just better. You can quickly switch between 'windows' - called 'Workspaces' - in Edge, and back again. Each Workspace can be customized with the features described in this article. For example I have my 'Edit website' workspace with relevant tabs and favorites, and another workspace called 'Hosting' including tabs and favorites related to that. Yes, the tabs are grouped separately.

The workspaces are related to my account profile, so they will be available every time I open Edge. The same goes for the workspaces shared with my account.

Collaboration

These workspaces can also be used for collaboration in teams, which I have not yet tried, but can certainly see the impact it could have on productivity and team work. Sharing an looking at the same Workspace in real-time, combined with the built-in Workspace-chat, makes real-time interaction between team members a fluent experience, which can happen at each of their laptos, at different locations.

The more I use Edge, the more I feel like Microsoft has upped their UX game massively. Each time I dive deeper into a feature it has purpose. It feels like a product with a lot of thought, research, and use-cases behind it. 

The way the features work are just amazingly put together, and I can really feel how well Edge and the features have been tested before I am using it.

I have always been happy about Microsoft products, the community surrounding it and the people using their products. Most of my career has been spent working with Microsoft technology, but somehow their browser was always lacking behind. I must really praise Edge for hitting the G spot. It is a great working experience.

It has been a long time since I preferred a Microsoft browser, and I am happy to be back. Microsoft has started to take their users seriously, not just regarding Edge, and they have many great products.

It is a fantastic browser for work, and I am so excited to have researched these features, as it is an eye-opener into a great user-experience. When taking a glance at the features it sounded nice, but also cluttered and messy. Not really something I would use much. But it just works, and I love it and I use it all the time now. 

Thank you Microsoft, the Edge team and everyone who has contributed to it.