Microsoft Edge Chromium For Mac

A while back, Microsoft Edge was just the default Windows 10 web browser. After ditching the old EdgeHTML engine in favor of Chromium, it has finally started to gain serious traction. And rather surprisingly, Microsoft Edge is now also available on the Mac. But how does it stack against Apple's own native Safari browser for macOS?

Edge Chromium For Mac Os
Microsoft Edge Chromium For Mac Download
Microsoft Edge
Microsoft Chromium Edge Browser For Mac

Microsoft Edge was designed to feel at home on a Mac. Easily sync your passwords, favorites, and settings across many devices. Download the Edge web browser today. I was missing Microsoft Edge, I came to realise. As I’ve said for almost two years now, Edge is the Chrome we’ve always wanted. It is smoother, faster, not resource-intensive, plus handles battery life really well. So I googled if Edge was available for the Mac, and it was. I installed it and made the switch completely. Microsoft Edge Chromium now available for macOS By Amber Neely Jan 15, 2020 Anyone interested in trying Microsoft's redesigned Edge Chromium browser can now download and use the first release.

Safari runs like a charm on the Mac with great performance and battery life. But being based on the Chromium engine does give Microsoft Edge an advantage coming into unfamiliar territory. Google Chrome uses the same browser engine, so adopting Chromium guarantees Edge greater web compatibility.

I've used Microsoft Edge alongside Safari ever since its arrival on the Mac. Here's my take on how Microsoft Edge fares against Safari on Mac.

User Interface

Microsoft Edge doesn't attempt to do anything special compared to Chromium alternatives such as Opera or Vivaldi. But its user interface just works. The default tabs provide a search bar that you can comfortably type into and quick links to sites that you frequently visit. You do get a rather annoying news feed, but it's something that you can quickly turn off.

The browser features a slightly larger-than-average address bar, which makes performing Omnibox searches a breeze. The nifty profile icon also allows you to manage, create, and use multiple profiles conveniently. At the same time, the Edge menu gives instant access to browser settings, extensions, progressive web apps, and other features.

However, Microsoft Edge does feel rather clunky and rough. Animations and transitions feel jarring, and I've often experienced input lag while navigating the user interface. However, those issues aren't that serious to put a dent in your browsing experience. After a while, you won't even notice.

On the other hand, Safari feels smooth and polished to near perfection. But its tiny tab strip and address bar aren't exactly geared toward great user experience. The fact that you have to use the confusing menu bars whenever you want to configure the browser seems rather dated.

Performance

It's almost impossible to beat Safari on the Mac in terms of performance. After all, Apple knows its hardware and software the best. But Microsoft Edge doesn't lag behind with its new Chromium engine. In my experience, Microsoft's browser performs almost on par with Safari.

Furthermore, Microsoft Edge technically has better compatibility withwebsites, once again, due to Chromium engine integration. So if you have trouble accessing asite in Safari, you can almost guarantee that it would load up justfine in Edge.

But what about battery life? Just like any native macOS application, Safari excels in that department.But Chromium has improved its efficiency over the yearson the Mac. So don't expect any rampant battery draining issues withEdge.

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Privacy Protection

Safari provides native protection against third-party cookies that monitor your browsing activity across websites. You can also ramp things up with content blocking extensions, which help a lot to thwart even more web trackers while improving page load times.

Microsoft Edge also doesn't disappoint when it comes to preserving your privacy. Zelda skyward sword switch 2021. The browser comes with an integrated content blocking module dubbed Tracking Prevention. It offers three different levels of protection (Basic, Balanced, and Strict), which range from blocking tracking cookies, malicious scripts, to personalized advertisements.

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Extensions Support

Starting with version 13 of Safari for macOS, Apple completely dropped support for legacy extensions, which was a terrible move (at least in my opinion) despite the concerns over privacy. Hence, the current crop of 'supported extensions' is minimal.

Also, most compatible extensions require a fee to work in the first place. As a power user, I now find Safari a hard sell on the Mac.

The new Microsoft Edge, however, offers an impressive and growing library of extensions. Just head over to the Microsoft Edge Add-ons store. You can find a ton of add-ons that can dramatically boost your productivity, enhance your shopping or social media experience, and more.

To make things even better, Microsoft Edge lets you install extensions designed for other Chromium browsers such as Google Chrome.

Data Syncing

While Safari is great at syncing bookmarks and passwords via iCloud to your iPhone and iPad, the browser isn't available outside the Apple ecosystem. Therefore, accessing your data on other platforms is often next to impossible. On Windows, the most you can do is sync your Safari bookmarks to Chrome or Firefox. And yes, better forget Android altogether.

Microsoft Edge for the Mac, on the other hand, is truly cross-platform. You can easily access your browsing data (bookmarks, passwords, extensions, etc.) not just on the iPhone and iPad, but also on Windows and Android. Of course, you must have a Microsoft Account to sync your Edge browsing data, but it's incredibly easy to create one.

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Pick Your Weapon Wisely

Microsoft Edge is shaping up to be a terrific web browser on the Mac, with unique features such as Collections starting to differentiate it from the myriad Chromium clones out there. It also receives frequent updates and feature revisions, something that Safari sorely lacks.

Both browsers offer solid privacy-related features, so a switchover depends completely on what else you prefer. If you like a user interface that's easy to use, an extensions library that allows for endless possibilities, or the ability to sync your data across multiple platforms, then Microsoft Edge is worth trying out.

For those of you who don't stray out of the Apple ecosystem much, love the performance and battery life in Safari, or its pure stability and reliability, it's just better to stick to the Mac's native web browser.

Next up:Decided to go with Microsoft Edge on your Mac? Check the next link to easily import your browsing data from other browsers to Microsoft Edge on your Mac.

The above article may contain affiliate links which help support Guiding Tech. However, it does not affect our editorial integrity. The content remains unbiased and authentic.

Safari vs Google Chrome: Which Browser Is Better on Mac

Are you getting confused between

While one won’t see Safari on a Windows any time soon, the Microsoft Edge on Mac is a thing. And with the new Microsoft Edge Chromium update, the Edge might be a browser that Apple doesn’t want you to use, that perhaps you should use.

Why?

1. Microsoft Edge on a Mac Brings the Most Extensions Possible to Any Web Browser

One major issue with the Safari browser is the lack of extensions it offers.

Sure, it does offer some extensions, so we can’t say there’s nothing there at all, but the options are mostly limited to ad blockers, and while that’s great, if you are looking for extensions like MailTag, to track when and where your emails are opened, so you can have a peace of mind when sending of emails + data, that’s at this time, not yet possible on Safari.

→ Add MailTag to Chrome

Microsoft Edge Chromium on macOS, from that perspective, is a big win for you and your productivity since it supports all Chrome extensions.

And ultimately that’s a reason or why the Chrome browsers are so popular in the first place. As they support extensions that allow people to get more out of browsers.

Safari Is Better Optimized for MacOS Devices Than Microsoft Edge Chromium

This is not a surprise.

Apple apps are the best optimized, on Apple devices.

The Safari browser renders pages better and works more smoothly on the macOS than the Edge Chromium does. It’s also more battery efficient.

…With that said, if you for instance, currently rock the Google Chrome browser, if you were to switch to Edge Chromium, you would notice a significant increase in performance.

That’s because the Google Chrome browser is incredibly power-hungry.

And if you care about the extensions, that might be a reason to convert to Edge Chromium over Google Chrome.

Edge Chromium Can Do All That Safari Can

Edge Chromium For Mac Os

If you search for why people like the Safari browser, you will come to the conclusion that it’s for reasons that aren’t unique to Safari.

You can also sync bookmarks, passwords, and history, between different devices on the Edge Chromium. In fact, on the Chromium, you can even sync between Google Chrome. And, unlike Safari, Edge Chromium is supported everywhere. Not to mention that while Chromium is open source, Safari isn’t.

Edge Chromium? It does look similar to Safari. It’s not as simple as it is a more advanced browser, but if you are looking to get more out of your browser because that’s where you spend most of your time, the Edge Chromium on Mac, overall does everything Safari does, but also much more, that Safari won’t ever do.

Edge Brings Privacy

Let’s be clear.

Apple does a great job at making their users feel secure.

Safari is a great browser for safety.

Chrome? It isn’t.

What Microsoft did with the Edge Chromium though, is that it made it much safer than Chrome, with much simpler privacy policies, and safety features that allow us to do something about tracking.

Microsoft Edge on Mac Brings Some Super Useful Features to Mac

Microsoft Edge Chromium brings some unique features such as an ability to create an app out of a website, or a much nicer and useful way to bookmark and save websites for later, with Collections.

Meanwhile, Read Aloud is a great text reader.

You get your dark mode, but you perhaps most importantly, get more options to customize the browser which isn’t really an option on Safari.

Microsoft Edge on Mac – The Only Other Browser to Consider on MacOS Devices