Microsoft and Google have been fighting over your Internet surfing grounds for years. With the introduction of Windows 10, Microsoft has upped their game with the new Edge browser. (Edge will eventually completely replace Internet Explorer.)
Just looking at the data, like speed benchmarks, Chrome and Edge compare nicely. And, there are lots of cool things built in to Edge that you can only do in Chrome by adding an extension.
Here are some things to consider as you decide which browser is the better fit for the way you work.
Edge Pros
Here are the features you’ll see listed as selling points for Edge over Chrome. But a closer look shows most of them are toss-ups for now.
1. Importing Favorites
It’s easy to import your favorites into Edge from Chrome. (But you won’t be able to sync back to Chrome for now.)
You can get ‘er done from the Microsoft Edge Welcome page (Step 1).
2. Reading List
The Reading List is a nice way to organize web pages to look at later without having to add them to a bookmark. (But you can do essentially the same thing with the Pocket extension for Chrome.)
3. Reading View
Reading View is nice for clearing off all the busy, distracting ads so you can just focus on what you’re reading. (And you can do this with a Chrome extension like Readability.)
4. Embedded Cortana
With Cortana, you can right-click on a word on a web page and get context-relevant information, like the hours a restaurant is open. To my knowledge, there isn’t a Chrome extension for this one.
You can, however, use voice search on Google almost as easily as you can with Cortana. Just click the microphone on the right-hand side of the search bar to search by voice.
If you are planning to keep her around anyhow (i.e., Cortana), you may as well set her up to do her thing in Edge. Once again, go to the Microsoft Edge Welcome page (Step 2).
5. Mark Up Web Pages
Edge’s ability to mark up a web page by drawing lines and circles and arrows is great on a touchscreen, but not too wonderful if all you have is a mouse. On the other hand, being able to add notes to a web page and then share your annotated pages can be pretty useful.
What Edge offers here is basically a built-in screen-capture utility. You mark up the page first, then take a screenshot. (Versus what similar screen-capture apps do, which is take the screen shot first and mark later.)
The Microsoft Edge Welcome page gives you a cool way to try it out (in Step 3).
Edge’s options for markers, highlighters, erasing, and formatting are pretty limited. Compare this to Greenshot (a popular, free screen-capture app) which offers unlimited colors, access to all the fonts you have on your PC, and lots of other cool functionality.
The biggest difference is where you can send your marked-up page.
With Greenshot, you can export to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, or Outlook. So it’s more focused on keeping things for yourself.
With Edge, you can share on Twitter, 3D Builder, Microsoft Mail, Messaging, and OneNote. And you can add more apps to share to. This is clearly more focused on, well, sharing your stuff, rather than making personal notes.
So the question is, which focus makes more sense for the way you work?
6. Power Consumption
If you frequently travel with a laptop, running just on battery power, this factor could really sell Edge for you.
Comparison studies show that Edge uses significantly less battery power than Chrome. And Microsoft has indicated a strategy to continue to improve Edge’s power consumption.
Edge Cons
1. The biggest con for Edge is that it uses Bing for search.
Why does everyone hate Bing? Too busy and distracting? Too much duplication of results? No Google Doodles? Just doesn’t feel right?
Maybe it’s just that we’re all comfortable with Google, and Bing hasn’t given us a good enough reason to switch.
If you, like most traders, prefer Google over Bing, you can change your settings in Edge (see next section point 1 for how).
However, if you try to search from the Start Menu or via Cortana, your search will be through Edge using the Bing engine, with no other option.
(There was briefly a Chrome extension that would let Google handle Cortana search results, but when last we checked, it was broken. Sorry.)
2. Some early reviews of Edge complained about its lack of support for extensions.
That support has been added in the August 2016 Anniversary Update.
But not all extensions will be immediately available for Edge. So the non-availability of your favorite extension could be a deal breaker.
To Maximize Edge Usage
Get familiar with the new icons and how to do things. Here they are from right to left.
1. More (3 dots)
Lots to do here, but the key things are Settings and Print.
As a trader, you’ll probably want to immediately change some settings. For example, I set a custom homepage so I wasn’t instantly distracted by MSN news every time I opened Edge or a new tab. I also opted to see the home icon on my taskbar, to show my favorites, and to import favorites from Chrome.
But perhaps most importantly, I changed the default search engine from Bing to Google. Here are the steps.
From within the Edge browser: More > Settings > View Advanced Settings > find “Search in the address bar with” > Change > click “Google” > Set as default
2. Share (large ring broken by 3 smaller ring)
Use Share to share web pages or screenshots to Twitter, email, OneNote, and other apps.
3. Make a Web Note (square outline with pencil)
Circle stuff or make notes on a web page, take a screenshot, then share or save.
4. Hub (3 horizontal lines of differing lengths)
Manage and/or view favorites, reading list, browsing history, and downloads.
5. Favorite (star)
Add current page to favorites or to reading list.
6. Reading view (open book)
Click here to get rid of ads and extraneous information for a distraction-free view of content.
<insert EDGE image>
To Change Your Default Browser
If you decide you and EDGE just can’t be friends, you’ll want to reset your default browser. Here’s how.
From your computer’s Start Menu: Settings > System > Default apps > click on the Edge icon under “Web browser” > Select from one of your installed browsers
Conclusion
Everything about your computer and your software is a personal decision. Even though most of us don’t like change, sometimes it can be good. Always consider what’s important to you and to the way you work before you accept or reject any change out-of-hand.
The most important thing about choosing your default browser is to choose something that will enhance, not detract from, your performance as a trader.
There are more trading computer tips like this in our buyers guide. Check out our “How To Buy a Trading Computer” e-book.
We hope today’s Quick Tip helped you. If you found this helpful, you’ll want to check out the other computer How-To’s I’ve created on this page. You can always call us if you have questions: 800-387-5250