14 DAY TRIAL // Windows 10 October 2020 Update is finally available for download, and while it’s not a massive update, at least not as massive as the May 2020 Update, it still comes with improvements that are definitely worth checking out.
Among them, there’s the overhaul of Microsoft Edge, the company’s reinvented browser which now runs on the Chromium engine, which also powers Google Chrome and several other browsers.
Microsoft has pushed hard to make the new Edge the preferred option for its users, and on Windows 10, the browser is offered as the new default on the system. And the migration to Chromium also allowed the company to expand it beyond the world of Windows 10, all with versions that are available today for Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, macOS, and Linux (currently in the Dev channel only).
In the last few weeks, Microsoft rolled out plenty of improvements for Edge, including for Collections, as well as the new Price Comparison tool that comes just at the right time.
Microsoft explains:
“With this update comes the latest and greatest version of the new Microsoft Edge. Since launching back in January, we’ve seen phenomenal growth and we’re excited it’s included in this update. If you haven’t yet tried the new Microsoft Edge, you should launch it and try it out since we’ve built a better browser with more performance, more privacy and more value back while you browse.
If you’re already using our new browser, then you’ve seen first-hand how fast it is and we’re adding great new features every six weeks. Try out Collections to easily save and share content you find online. It’s perfect for holiday shopping, school research and even planning next spring’s camping trip. And it works across PC and mobile so you’re always in sync. We’ve also added Price Comparison so you can easily find the best price when you add an item to a collection, just in time for holiday shopping. In fact, we’re proud to say Microsoft Edge is the best browser for shopping this holiday.”
There are two major improvements that come to Edge users in Windows 10 October 2020 Update.
The first of them is support for the Alt + Tab window switcher that has been available in Windows since forever. Beginning with this new feature update, Microsoft Edge tabs are included in the app switcher, which means that you won’t see just the running apps, but also the active tabs in your browser. In other words, you can now switch not just to Microsoft Edge using the Alt + Tab UI but right to the tab that you’re looking for (if several of them are running at the same time).
This is something that comes in extremely handy, especially if you always have more than a tab active in Microsoft Edge. I typically rely on Alt + Tab to switch apps on my laptop, and thanks to this addition, the workflow has improved substantially, as jumping from a specific window to the tab that I need is now just a matter of seconds.
And the second Edge update that comes with this Windows 10 feature update concerns the option to pin websites to the taskbar. Beginning with the October 2020 Update, when you pin a specific website to the taskbar, simply hovering the icon displays all open tabs of the same site, so theoretically, it’s again a lot easier to jump to the page that you need in Microsoft Edge.
Overall, this Windows 10 feature update makes the experience with Edge feel even more deeper, and it’s pretty clear that the browser becomes a more important part of the operating system as a whole. And if you’re not using Edge already, you really need to give it a try, there’s no doubt about it.