Yesterday, I showed you how you could download and install the testing version of the redesigned Microsoft Edge. (Click here to read that article.)
Let’s take a quick tour around the redesigned browser. This isn’t the final version of the new Edge, so some of the things I’m showing you are subject to change.
Judging from the basic new tabs page, it doesn’t look much different than Edge did before.
But once we look up to the top right, the changes are obvious. The older version of Edge looks much busier. This isn’t the final version of the browser, so much of this could change. But it looks as if they are aligning with Chrome’s aesthetic of keeping it very clean and simplified. See the little smiling face to the left of the menu icon in the newer version? That’s where you can click to send feedback to Microsoft about this new version of Edge.
Now let’s take a look at what happens when you click that three-line menu icon at the far right. Here’s the old Edge menu.
This is what you get in the new test version of Edge. You’ll notice that the reading list option is gone as is the books option. Edge was your only option for reading books from the Microsoft store and the company has already shut that down. Reading list was a handy little app that allowed you to save articles to read later in one place. I’m not sure if that option is gone for good or not.
The biggest change I see so far is what happens when you choose Settings. In the old version, a panel on the right opens with your options.
The new version takes you to a page that is similar to what happens in Chrome. Settings on the left and your profile in the center pane.
To me, this layout seems far more simplified. I’ll show you more tomorrow. Remember, this is a work in progress. Any of the features shown could still change.