Trying Microsoft Edge

 
 

I've been a die hard Chrome user for at least the last handful of years, but as I explore Windows 10 more I can't but help check out Edge. Right off the bat, it just feels right, much like Safari or GNOME Web do on their respective platforms. The security seems as good as Chrome, HTML5 support maybe a tad behind, but most of my extensions are there or have decent replacements.

LastPass and uBlock Origin are a must for password management and blocking pesky trackers. JSON Formatter for Edge makes viewing JSON in your browser way more doable. Saving content is also doable via Pocket, Evernote, Pinterest, and more. It's pretty amazing how far Microsoft's browser efforts have come since the days of IE. I love the little things like built in butter smooth PDF reader and find (match case and/or whole word.) There is a setting to use dark mode. All these things are fantastic, but there are some pretty annoying downsides.

  • Google Hangout video conferencing refuses to work. This is basically a deal breaker, but I have a work around.
  • The developer tools feel laggy and clunky.
  • "InPrivate" mode cannot be launched by default.
  • You cannot remove "Web Note" or "Share" from the tool bar. I don't use either and its annoying to have those extra buttons.

Most of those issues are just slightly annoying. However, Hangout's is a must for my day to day workflow. You can get around it by using a Chrome app and adding it to the Start Menu.

The end result will look something like this

The end result will look something like this

  1. Go to https://hangouts.google.com and click the "Video Call" button.
  2. Open the "..." Chrome menu and select "More > Add to desktop..."
  3. Check your desktop for the app shortcut.
  4. In File Explorer go to %appdata%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu
  5. Drag your newly created shortcut into this folder.

Any time I have a meeting I can quickly search for "hangouts" and immediately open an "app" for it while doing the rest of my work in Edge.