Microsoft Edge was first released back on April 29, 2015. At that time, it was primarily meant to replace the age-old Internet Explorer. Sadly, because of the domination of Google Chrome on the desktop browser market, it was used only to download Chrome. However, on January 15, 2020, Microsoft changed the strategy, and instead of going up against its rival, it adopted a new Chromium-based design for Edge, which is also the basis for Google Chrome. After that, it gained huge popularity, and according to StatCounter, Edge had captured 8.84 percent of the market share as of August 2021, from a mere 0.02 Percent in January 2020.
While Google Chrome still holds the First Position by capturing 66.94 percent market share, many users are shifting towards Edge because of its additional features and improved privacy. Hence, naturally, the question arises, does Edge have “an edge” over Chrome? In today’s article, we are going to take a look at both of these browsers and will tell you which one is better for you. So, without wasting any more time, let’s get started.
Two of the browsers share lots of similarities as well as some differences. And, it’s important to discuss them first so that you can have a clear idea of which one to choose.
User Interface
First of all, interfaces on both of these browsers are almost the same. Many of the old-school design from the Edge has gone, replaced with a clear and easy-to-use interface. The search bar, extension, and settings options are in the same place, which means you will not face any problems while switching to any of these. In addition, both use the same rendering engine based on the open-source Chromium project. However, Chrome uses Google as its default Search Engine while Edge uses Bing. But, you can change both browsers to your preferred search engine in the settings option.
Features
The basic features are also the same. On the home page, you will find all the essential office apps like Microsoft Word, Office, Outlook, and Office 365 Apps. On the other hand, Chrome lets you access all the Google Apps like Docs, Drive, Gmail, and all the other workspace apps. But, Edge also has some extra features like Vertical Tab, which gives you more space to keep track of all the opened tabs easily. In addition, immersive Reader helps you to focus more when you are reading something, and there are also options like Read Aloud, Editor, and more that are not available in Chrome. Thus, feature-wise, Edge does have an advantage over Chrome.
Extension Support
Extension support for any application plays a crucial role in desktop browser popularity, and moving to the Chromium platform opened the possibilities of extension support for Microsoft Edge. Microsoft’s store extension collection is continuously growing. Besides, if an Edge user wants to download an extension only available on Chrome Web Store, that is also possible by following some simple methods. However, Chrome Web Store still remains robust when it comes to quantity.
Performance
In terms of performance, both Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome perform really well. They are both fast browsers, but one of the complaints that many people have is that Chrome is a resource-hungry browser which means it uses lots of RAM, and using various benchmarking tools also proves that to be true. Edge does use less RAM, and performance seems slightly better than Chrome. However, the difference might be negligible for most of the users.
Synching
Synching on Google Chrome is on another level as it can sync almost all the things across platforms when you add your email id to the browser. It handles syncing flawlessly between your phone, tablet, laptop, and other devices. Edge can also sync passwords, bookmarks, and more from device to device, but frankly, it’s not perfect. It is because Edge is relatively new to the development process and needs time to perfect this. So, as of now, Google has the upper hand here.
Security
To protect users against Phishing and Malware, both the browsers notify users when they land on an HTTP page instead of HTTPS, letting them know that their traffic is unsafe. But Chrome wins out because of its frequent security updates than Edge. With these updates, chrome eliminates possible vulnerabilities in its code.
Privacy
The major problem with Chrome is the Privacy issue. We all know that Chrome was developed by Google, a company that relies heavily on advertising for revenue. And for that, it keeps track of all the user’s data and searches results to show relevant ads when they browse the internet. Microsoft, on the contrary, offers three modes of protection from tracking, which are simple to understand, and you can choose from them.
All things considered, it is safe to say that Edge has better privacy, performance, and some additional features which users will find helpful. At the same time, Chrome has robust Extension support, syncing capabilities, and frequent security updates. Thereby, if you are concerned about your privacy and don’t want your browser to keep track of your activities, switching to Edge can be a smart decision. However, if you are more inclined to Google’s Ecosystem, sticking with Chrome might be the best option for you.
