The edge in Microsoft Edge
Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) brutally murdered Netscape Navigator in 1997. Prior to the debut of IE, Netscape Navigator was a bowser of choice. It may not have been free lunch but its users were willing to pay what its creators were asking for.
In those pre-Facebook days, Microsoft was Coca- Cola of computer technology and the internet was the salt that made it all tasteful.
Using its financial muscle, Microsoft bought Internet Explorer from an upstart, patched it up and bundled it with Windows 95; making it literally free.
Although the Department of Justice in USA red-carded Microsoft for this offence, it failed to melt out any definable punishment. All it said was that Microsoft had to be split but never unbundled the puzzle.
The result was that nothing really changed; Netscape Navigator died naturally; how could it compete with something free? It was like getting a Pepsi for each Coke bought.
Over the years, Internet Explorer has been putting on so much weight rendering it sluggish. And then, Google had the temerity to release us from the chains of IE by offering us something better in form of free Google Chrome browser.
And since, it has been a tale of native proverb which when literally translated into the queen’s language means that you send a thief to catch a thief.
With the introduction of Windows 10, Microsoft decided to gradually retire IE and introduce a brand new browser to work with IE in a skill-transfer move.
Edge has been around a while and is about time a question was asked: has MS Edge got an edge over browsers like Chrome, Chedot or indeed Firefox?
Like love, these are matters of the heart, and in such matters, beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. Notwithstanding, here is an observation.
Edge is lightweight and does the work of serving you a webpage with timeliness. That, dear reader, is a hallmark of a good browser.
Edge comes with a reading view which eliminates all advertising material from a webpage leaving only the content you want to read.
The reading list tool should be appetizing to Malawians who are currently bombarded with heavily taxed internet. While on a page, click favourites icon and Edge saves the page on your local drive so that you can come back to it with or without an internet bundle.
Edge lets you make notes by hand, through typed notes or highlight parts of a page. When you make mistakes, there is no need to stress out, an electronic eraser is at your disposal. You can cut parts of a webpage and either save it or share it on Facebook or WhatsApp.
When Edge pops up, it brings up a search bar. Let’s say you type www.bwb.mw, Bing search engine does not waste your time by telling you what you already know that the website belongs Blantyre Water Board and that it has gone flora by planting trees all over; instead it opens the website for you. The address bar is still available at the top of the homepage.
Should you find typing mind-numbing, configure Edge to partner with Cortana and all you are required to do is to yell out and Cortana will do the rest.
Now, is Edge some dreamland? Not really. A browser such as Chedot has built in YouTube Downloader and accelerator.
All I am saying in English is that promiscuity is surely sacrilegious in church but is all useful in browsing the net; one browser may not have all the tools and whistles of the trade. One More thing, thanks Bill Gates, ever since you killed Netscape Navigator, nobody pays for a browser
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