The New Edge Browser

If you want to connect to the Internet via your PC, then you must have an internet connection and a special piece of app called web browser. The good news is that your Windows 10 operating system comes with a brand new web browser – Microsoft Edge. After serving the world for 20 years, Internet Explorer left its place for Microsoft Edge, which is a Universal app and delivers the same look and features on all devices, including Windows 10 PC, phone, tablet, or even on an Xbox game console. Microsoft Edge is also a lot faster than previous versions at rendering web pages, and with features such as a Reading List for accessing web content later on, and a Reading View for stripping away distracting ads. It also has a SmartScreen Filter (turned on by default) that protects your PC from malicious sites and downloads. This feature is available under Settings > Advanced settings. These are just some of the benefits of the browser. You can launch Microsoft Edge from the taskbar (A).  Initially you will see a launch screen that shows the top news, weather, and links to popular sites. It also carries a search box, which is there to receive a search term (such as CNN) or a web address (www.cnn.com). Type something in the search box (for example, cnn) and press Enter. The browser contacts the default Bing search engine and fetches the result for the searched term, as illustrated above.

B - Navigation

Use these two navigation buttons to move back and forth in the browser. If you are on the illustrated page, click the Back button to switch back to the launch screen page. Then, click the Forward button to see the illustrated page again.

C - Refresh

The Refresh icon is used to reload the currently viewed page to grab the latest information.

D - Tabs

Tabs are used in a browser to open and surf multiple websites. Each tab shows the name of the site opened under it. You can open a new tab by clicking the + icon (1). Alternatively, right-click any link on the web page and select Open in a new tab from the pop-up menu. Click the little cross icon (x) on top of the tab to close the website you don’t want to see further.

E - Address Bar

The address bar shows the address of the site you are browsing. If you want to visit another website, type its address here (e.g. www.yahoo.com). Type in a few words (e.g. Yahoo) in the address bar, and you will get the result along with other matches.

F - Reading View

For a clean and simple layout (like a book page), select Reading View to bring whatever you're reading front and center. To change the reading view style and font size to suit your mood, select More (K) > Settings.

G - Add to Favorites or Reading List

Use this icon to add your frequently visited sites to your Favorites list. Later on you can visit these sites by accessing them from Hub > Favorites.

H - Hub

It is the place where Microsoft Edge keeps the things you collect on the web. Select Hub to view your favorites, reading list, browsing history, and current downloads. And when you sign in with a Microsoft account, your favorites and reading list are available across all your Windows 10 devices. You can also manage the bookmarks and the folders you have created. This can include deleting and renaming them.

I - Make a Web Note

Microsoft Edge is the only browser that lets you take notes, write, doodle, and highlight directly on web pages. Then you can save and share your handiwork in all the usual ways. Make notes on recipes, send your partner "subtle hints" about birthday gifts, or just draw mustaches on celebrities—the web is your canvas. Use the Pen (1) to write with your touchscreen or mouse, highlight contents (2), erase your work (3), or type a note (4) and then Share (J) it.

You can also show or hide the favorites bar. The favorites bar offers an even quicker way of accessing your saved Bookmarks. You just have to enable the option via the Settings menu.

J - Share

Do you want to email an interesting article to a friend or post a cool infographic to your Facebook page? Using Microsoft Edge’s integrated sharing feature, you can share through a variety of mediums without leaving the page you are viewing. Many websites already have buttons to share their content on popular social media sites, but the built-in Edge sharing option gives you control over your sharing options. This functionality can be achieved in Chrome, Firefox, and Safari by installing a series of browser extensions, but Edge’s approach is simpler and cleaner. Pressing the Share icon launches the Windows 10 system Share Panel on the right of the screen. Under the word “Share” is the name of the webpage (1) you are currently viewing. If you click the down arrow next to the webpage name, you will have the option to take a screenshot of the page (2) instead of sharing the page in its entirety. A list of the sharing apps (3) you have downloaded appears next. If you wish to add more share options, such as Facebook or Twitter, click the link Look for an app in the Store (4) to download the corresponding app from the Windows Store. Once you click on the app you want to use to share in the Share Panel, the panel will expand and walk you through how to share using that app.

K - More

Click the More icon to see a menu having some more useful options. Using this menu you can find text on the page (1), print (2) or open an InPrivate window (3) (web pages you visit will not be tracked). You can also launch the current web page in Internet Explorer (4) or head to Settings (5). The Settings section of the browser lets you tweak browser settings to meet your particular needs. You can also explore the Settings > Advanced Settings to turn on pop-up blockers and add a Homescreen icon. The Developer Tools (6) are more useful for those who like to create or maintain web pages, as it helps identify problems.

L - Finding Text

The Find option appears just below the address bar, to allow you to quickly find items on a page. You can invoke the Find option from the More menu (1), or simply press Ctrl + F.

Managing History

Microsoft Edge keeps track of every website you visit in a History list. Surely, it’s a very handy list for you to redisplay the sites you visited in the past few days or weeks, but for evil eyes it's more lucrative to spy on your web activities. If you do your banking or other sensitive activities online, then you must clean your History list immediately. To access the History list, click the Hub icon (1) and then click the History icon (2) or press Ctrl+H in the Edge browser. All the websites you visited in the past will appear, sorted by date. From this list you can easily jump back to a site you found interesting yesterday or last week. To delete a single website entry from this list, move the mouse over that entry and then click the small (x) icon (3). If you want to delete all visits to the same site, right-click its entry in the History list and select Delete all visits option from the pop-up menu. This will save you from having to find and delete entries individually. To delete the entire History list, click the link Clear All History (4), or press Ctrl+Shift+Del.

Set Your Startup Page

The first web page you encounter when Edge connects to the Internet is a Microsoft Web site. “Where to next?” it says, and there’s an address bar so you can type a URL. However, you can configure Microsoft Edge to open a specific web page or a collection of tabs as the startup page. Click on More icon and select the Settings options from the menu. Choose the last option: A specific page or pages (1). Select Custom from the drop-down menu (2). Type the web page address (3) and click the Add icon (4). Microsoft Edge adds the web page to the list (5). If you want to add more web pages, repeat the above steps. Drag and drop the page entries to arrange them in the desired order. These pages will appear the next time you start Microsoft Edge. If you want to load Microsoft Edge without displaying a startup page in a new tab, click the Open new tabs with drop-down list (6), and select A blank page option. Similarly, if you want to open the browser with pages you used when you last closed it, select the Previous pages option (7).