This week, I put myself through another experiment and used the Microsoft Edge browser exclusively for work and personal.

I’ve used Microsoft Edge for work for various reasons and never really had any issues with it. For personal, I was using Safari, but I’ve also experimented with Brave, Firefox, and even Arc.

With all the recent announcements around the new Bing and other features coming to Microsoft Edge, I thought I would try to use the browser for work and personal for at least a week.

I’ve been pleasantly surprised! No performance issues or crashes. That is to be expected since I’m already using it for work all day long.

But there are some features that I started to use that have been surprisingly helpful.

Verticle Tabs

I don’t leave tabs open, so I don’t have much issue managing them, but the verticle tabs give the browser a clean look that I like.

Profiles

I’ve been using profiles for work since the feature was released. Profiles allow you to quickly switch to a separate instance of Edge with its logins, sessions, cookies, bookmarks, etc. This is ideal for separating work from personal, but I also have about 15 profiles for various clients, and I can log into their Office 365 environment with a click.

The Side Bar

When the Side Bar feature was first released, I immediately disabled it and never looked back. However, this week I gave it a try. It is pretty handy for searches and even loading specific sites, and I’ve used it with Feedbin, Micro.blog, and Mastodon. It’s a little glitchy when navigating, but it is convenient for quickly checking email or social updates.

Microsoft Edge Screenshot

Shopping

Another feature I had immediately disabled prior but thought I would give a go over the past week is the Shopping integration. Annoying or helpful? If you want to save some money, it can be beneficial. You can even track orders and price changes. Will I continue using it? 🤔 To be decided...

Cross-Device

Yes, I’ve also been using Microsoft Edge on my phone and tablet, and it’s okay. I prefer Safari for its simplicity, but the Edge mobile apps work great, and having everything synced across devices is excellent.

AI Integration

It’s too soon to say whether AI integration is helpful, and the features are not released yet. There were announcements about Bing AI being baked into Microsoft Edge, so you can use it as you browse. Another helpful yet scary feature.

Bing AI in Microsoft Edge

What I don’t like about Microsoft Edge

Of course, there are many things I still don’t like about Microsoft Edge. Microsoft tries to add every feature under the sun to the browser, causing it to be bloated. I know how to turn most things off, so it’s manageable.

Privacy and Security is also a concern. While edge has many features that make your browsing more secure, you have to accept that Microsoft has at least some telemetry data from you. Who knows for sure what they’re tracking? If that is a concern, look elsewhere.

Microsoft Edge Privacy Settings

Will I continue using Microsoft Edge?

Yes, until I get bored with it and want to try something else. I’m still trying to grasp all the features available and how they compare to other browsers.