Key Characteristics and Core Differences
Design
As far as design is concerned, both browsers offer nearly identical experiences. For people who are a fan of the old-school design elements of the original Edge browser (read, no one), the old-school design elements are mostly gone and have now been replaced with rounder edges and a much sharper, cleaner interface. In fact, there are hardly any differences between the overall look and feel of the two browsers except maybe the arrow buttons and other icons. For most other elements on the screen such as the URL/search bar, and the symbols for extensions and add-ons are mostly identical. This makes it easier for people switching between the two browsers as there is hardly any noticeable difference in user experience when switching from Chrome to Edge, or vice versa. The most remarkable difference between the two ladies in the default search engine and homepage as Edge defaults to Microsoft’s Bing, and Google uses Google’s search engine. Users can modify the search engines as per their choice. Both Edge and Chrome are designed based on the Chromium open-source browser that uses the Blink rendering engine. This is why the experience on both browsers are nearly indistinguishable. IT Outsourcing Services can help you establish a safer browsing experience with the right browser for enterprise users.
Performance
Chrome manages to narrowly beat Edge in the Kraken and Jetstream benchmarks, but make no mistake that the difference will hardly be noticeable in most typical day-to-day use cases. On the other hand, Microsoft Edge uses significantly fewer resources such as memory usage. No matter which device to use it on, Chrome uses what many users have found to be an inexcusable amount of RAM and it feels bloated. The difference and ram usage is almost double between the two browsers. Edge used 665MB of RAM with six pages loaded while Chrome used 1.4GB. This might be disheartening for users on systems with limited memory. If memory space is a concern for you, Microsoft Edge is the clear winner here.
Features
Switching over from Chrome to Edge is simple and seamless. All you have to do is simply install Edge and choose to sync over your passwords, bookmarks, addresses, and more from Chrome. In terms of features, Edge offers certain additional ones. The most significant of these is, of course, Edge Collections, that lets you group similar webpages and even name them for simplified access. This lets you switch between different work modes easily, as you can simply click on a collection to jump back into a project when you want to switch from one project to another. Microsoft Editor is also very useful tool that seeks to replace or at least compliment writing assistants like Grammarly. Editor makes use of artificial intelligence to keep your writing clean and grammatically correct without the need for an expensive add-on. Extensions are plentiful in both browsers. Additionally, Edge also includes a Read Aloud feature that provides additional accessibility options for users who need it. Both browsers support turning webpages into apps, allow casting content on other devices through the Miracast and DNLA protocols on Edge, and Chromecast on Chrome. Chrome’s clear advantage lies in harnessing the entire Google ecosystem, such as Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Docs, and Google Maps. Although cross-compatibility is improving, using another browser while being locked into Google ecosystem maybe somewhat challenging.
Syncing
This is one area where Google’s Chrome definitely has an upper hand. It is capable of syncing every single aspect of the browser across systems. This includes everything from passwords to bookmarks to history and more all of which seamlessly syncs between devices. For users who are not bound to a specific ecosystem when it comes to their devices, Chrome allows for seamless functionality between your phone, laptop, iPad, or any other device that supports Chrome. The experience is definitely not as seamless on Microsoft Edge that continues to be plagued by limited device syncing. While you can sync passwords, bookmarks, and more from one device to another, features such as history and open tabs still don’t work as seamlessly and continue to be under development. For users who like to switch between devices often, this can be a dealbreaker.
Cross-device accessibility
Apart from seamless syncing, Chrome also has the benefit of running on just about every platform, including Apple ecosystem, Chromebooks and Android. It can be installed on Windows, Linux operating systems, MacOS, iPadOS, and iOS. Edge also supports many platforms but is yet to be available on Linux and cannot be installed natively on Chrome OS. Microsoft Edge App on Android can help out in a pinch. In order to ensure the maximum cross device accessibility, please refer to 24/7 IT support.
Security and privacy
This is one area where Microsoft has worked diligently and it shows. Edge offers much more versatility in privacy settings than Chrome, and it’s easy for users to find them. Edge makes it easy for users to block trackers from sites they’ve visited and even those you haven’t. It actively deters personalized information sharing across sites. Users have the flexibility to choose from one of three tracking prevention levels, allowing a better degree of control. Edge even uses Microsoft Defender SmartScreen to protect against malicious websites and shady downloads. Comparatively, Chrome seems prehistoric with its limited ability to block third-party cookies. Also the browser has made safe browsing a priority, and is capable of identifying dangerous extensions, downloads, and websites – it is a far cry from being user-friendly. Users need to hunt around for the exact settings they want to change. For a guaranteed secure browsing experience, consider reaching out to Managed Security Services.
Google Chrome vs. Microsoft Edge: Overall winner
Google Chrome’s negative impact on system performance means that people who want to multitask or even just run more than a handful of tabs at a time will do better to stay away from Chrome.
Edge also manages to literally edge ahead with consistent performance and user-friendly features at a faster speed.
Security and privacy are also considerably easier to manage on Edge. Although Google continues to offer more extensions and overall platform support, Microsoft is catching up fast. While users may not be keen on switching browsers at first, Microsoft Edge browser has tried to make switching and syncing as seamless as possible to tempt users. In terms of usage experience, the performance consistency might just be worth the effort.
