Articles about Microsoft Edge

Microsoft today addresses one of the biggest shortcomings of its Edge browser, announcing its upcoming availability on the two biggest mobile platforms: Android and iOS.

Microsoft says that support for Android and iOS is "one of the most common requests" that it has received from Edge users on Windows 10. By making it available across multiple platforms, the software giant is making its browser a viable option in this space for folks who use a mix of devices.

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It's now a little more than a year since Microsoft first brought extensions to Edge. After so long you would expect the selection of addons to be overwhelming -- but that's far from being the case. In all, there are only 70-odd Edge extensions available, and Microsoft has been moved to explain why.

In a blog post, the company almost apologetically explains that it is "building a thoughtfully curated ecosystem," citing concern over quality and a fear of diminishing the user experience. What some might describe as "slow," Microsoft refers to as a "purposefully metered approach" to new extensions, and you probably shouldn't expect things to speed up a great deal any time soon.

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Apple's Safari has more security vulnerabilities than Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge and Internet Explorer combined, according to a new report from Google's Project Zero.

Using an automated testing tool called Domato, Project Zero's Ivan Fratric analyzed the most popular desktop browsers and discovered two security vulnerabilities in Chrome, four in Firefox and Internet Explorer, six in Edge and 17 in Safari.

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Microsoft has become the latest member of the Coalition for Better Ads (CBA). The group works with technology companies and trade organizations to help develop an ad ecosystem that works for advertisers without compromising the experience of internet users.

In taking up membership of the CBA, Microsoft is joining Google who has already worked with the organization to develop a selective ad blocker for Chrome due for release next year. Microsoft is also looking to introduce ad blocking into Edge, but the blocker would only discriminate against ads deemed unacceptable by the CBA.

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Like Internet Explorer before it -- although perhaps not to quite the same extent -- Microsoft Edge is shunned and ridiculed by most web users. Despite this, Microsoft has this week claimed that its web browser has a huge number of users. "Microsoft Edge users are active on 330 million monthly devices!" proclaims the Microsoft Edge Dev team on Twitter. (File under: You Must Be Bloody Well Joking).

The claim, made on Twitter and repeated during an Edge Summit webinar attracted some attention -- not least that of Paul Thurrott. He's not alone in wondering how on earth Microsoft came up with this number; the suggested usage figure seems out of sync with reported browser usage stats.

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Ask Microsoft which browser offers the best battery life on Windows 10 and it will not hesitate to tell you that Microsoft Edge is the best. And it has the test results to prove it: on a Surface Book, for instance, Microsoft Edge lasts a couple of hours longer than Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox, which is remarkable.

But, and there is a but, an independent test disputes Microsoft's claim. YouTuber Linus Tech Tips has pitted Microsoft Edge against Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Opera and discovered that it does not deliver as strong a performance as Microsoft claims.

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Microsoft introduced a bug bounty program for Edge last August. Originally intended as a temporary thing, it will now live on as the software giant reports that it has lead to major improvements in its browser's security.

As is the case with bug bounty programs, part of the appeal for security researchers is the financial side. In this case, Microsoft says that it has paid over $200,000 in bounties in since it kicked off.

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Formerly known as Bing Rewards, Microsoft Rewards has now made its way to the UK. The program rewards users for making searches with Bing, with extras thrown in if these searches are conducted in Microsoft Edge.

Users can accrue points by performing searches, completing quizzes, or spending money in the Microsoft Store, and these can then be exchanged for Skype credit, gift cards, Groove Music passes and more. It's a scheme that amounts to little more than bribery, and sees Microsoft paying people to use its products and services.

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Anyone using Microsoft Edge to "print to PDF" is advised to double-check their files after a strange bug was detected. The problem is reminiscent of a bug that afflicted Xerox photocopiers a couple of years ago, and sees the browser displaying one set of numbers and printing another.

Microsoft has confirmed the existence of the bug which has the potential to cause serious issues with mission-critical data. The person who originally reported the problem cites an example in which Windows 10's default web browser "displays 123456 in PDF but prints 114447."

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Windows 10 S is a very intriguing operating system for education, but it has potential in other areas too. True, being limited to apps from the Windows Store could be frustrating, but in theory, it can create a much safer experience. Of course, for the concept to be a success, developers will need to embrace the app store -- something that largely isn't happening now. Heck, the failure of Windows RT can be largely attributed to the deficiencies of the Windows Store, such as lack of apps (and lots of junk).

If developers do start leveraging the Windows Store, the Windows 10 S experiment could take off, as users won't find a need to install legacy programs. This will largely depend on web browsers being available there, as many users dislike Edge. Thankfully, Microsoft is allowing third-party browser installs from the Windows Store. Unfortunately, there is a big catch -- you cannot change the default.

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I have a dirty little secret to share: I like Microsoft Edge. There, I said it. Phew! Nice to finally have that off my chest!

No more embarrassed looks as I surf the web in the airport lounge. No more keeping Google Chrome open in the background so I can quickly switch lest some tech-savvy passerby glances at my screen and chuckles at my "noobishness."

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If you're looking for distraction-free web browsing, it makes sense to switch to full screen mode. This is something that is very easy to achieve in the likes of Chrome, Opera and Firefox, but Windows 10 users who have opted to stick with Microsoft Edge don’t seem to have such a good deal.

But this is just a matter of appearances. Edge does have a secret full screen mode that you can access very easily. Quite why Microsoft chose not to advertise the feature is anyone's guess, but there you go!

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The war over which web browser offers the best battery life to laptop users has been waging for some time. Chrome, Firefox and Microsoft Edge have all been battling it out, and with the release of Windows 10 Creators Update, Microsoft thinks it's time to show off the improvements that have been made to its browser.

In Microsoft's own tests -- involving streaming video on a Surface Book -- Edge lasted for over three hours longer than Chrome, and nearly five hours longer than Firefox. These are figures that will almost certainly be disputed in further tests by Mozilla and Google, but for now, Microsoft is giving Edge its moment in the spotlight at the top of the performance pile: 77 percent longer battery life than Mozilla Firefox, and 35 percent longer than Google Chrome.

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Last week 0patch produced what was described as the first 0-day patch for Windows in lieu of Microsoft's usual Patch Tuesday release. It came after Google revealed a pair of vulnerabilities affecting IE/Edge and Windows.

Having addressed the problem in Windows, 0patch is at it again, this time patching the "type confusion" bug (CVE-2017-0037) that plagues Internet Explorer and Edge. This patch is described as an attempt to "release a simple temporary patch that blocks an attacker than try to create a perfect patch", and it's available for anyone who is willing to place their trust in third-party patching.

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Not content with publishing details of an unpatched Windows bug, Google has now gone public with a security vulnerability in both Microsoft Edge and Internet Explorer. Going under the description of "Type confusion in HandleColumnBreakOnColumnSpanningElement", the bug has the potential to allow an attacker to execute malicious code.

The vulnerability has been assigned the code CVE-2017-0037, and details of the flaw have been published under the terms of Google's Project Zero. Microsoft was notified about the problem 90 days ago, and as the company failed to patch it Google has made the problem public.

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