The Edge browser, called Project Spartan in early development, is the default browser for Windows 10. Edge, which won’t run in older versions of Windows, is a radical break from IE, despite sporting a similar logo.

Here are five ways in which Edge promises to be a superior browser to the IE warhorse.
  1. No Legacy Support (mostly).
    • Edge will support the following:
      • Adobe Flash
      • Personal Document Format (PDF)
    • Edge will NOT support the following:
      • Microsoft’s ActiveX
      • Browsers Helper Objects (BHOS)
      • VBScript and third-party toolbars built for IE11, all of which could crimp performance and bring security woes.
      • Silverlight

    For those organizations and people who still require, or prefer, IE, Microsoft will maintain the browser for at least as long as it supports Windows 10, providing security fixes but no longer actively developing the browser.

  2. Speedier, Richer Browsing.
  3. Support for Extensions, Finally.

    Unlike IE, Edge will support JavaScript-based extensions, allowing third parties to customize views of Web pages and add new functionality.

    In a demonstration at the keynote, Microsoft showed how Edge could run a popular extension for Reddit, one that reformats the popular social news Web site in a much more visually appealing way. Like extensions for Chrome and Firefox, Edge extensions must be written using the Web languages of HTML and JavaScript.

    Extension support won’t come with the initial release of the Edge, but will be available by the end of the year.

  4. More Personal.

    Edge is tightly wired into Microsoft’s Bing search service, and with Cortana, the company’s virtual personal assistant service. When users opt into these services, they can keep track of your actions on the browser in order to gather more context that would, in theory, help you in your travels across the Web.

  5. More Immersive.

    Edge has less chrome than IE, meaning that the browser frame is less festooned with distracting menu commands and widgets. It will also offer a “reading view,” which strips away all the menus, ads and other distracting elements that run alongside the text.

    Through a click of a button, Edge will also offer the ability to annotate Web pages. A user can make notes directly on a website, which can then be recalled the next time the site is visited; the browser stores the notes on the user’s computer. Those with touch devices can also draw on top of the site. Annotations can be shared with other Edge users.