14 DAY TRIAL // We’ve known for a while that Microsoft wants Microsoft Edge to be more than just a browser, with the company investing aggressively in the PDF capabilities of the app.
And despite moving from EdgeHTML to the Chromium engine, building the best PDF app around is still a priority, and this is the reason Microsoft keeps focusing on this side of the app.
In addition to substantial improvements in this regard already available in Edge, Microsoft has recently revealed that it’s working on three new capabilities for the browser that would allow it to work more efficiently with PDF documents.
And these three are the following:
- View recovery: On re-opening a PDF file, reach your last-read location easily.
- Viewing MIP files protected in other tenants: This will enable you to view the files protected in other organizations, or in other tenants in the organization.
- Validate Certificate based Digital Signatures: We’re currently working on adding support for signatures with long-term validity.
But that’s not all. The company says it’s already planning ahead, and in the coming updates, Microsoft wants its browser to also offer support for adding text boxes for form filling and to allow the viewing of labels in protected files. The digital signatures will also be improved, Microsoft says, and it’s also working on a series of accessibility refinements, such as filling forms and navigating through a PDF document using screen readers.
And last but not least, Microsoft wants users to provided with previews of PDF files in File Explorer and Outlook, but there are all features that are currently on the roadmap without a specific ETA.
Many of these features would also be available on other platforms, not just on Windows, as the switch to the Chromium engine allowed Edge to also make its debut on Linux and macOS.