Windows Edge (Chrome)

[Den]

I decided to try the New version of Edge today and downloaded it from the Microsoft site.

First impressions are , very very fast indeed. It will take a bit to get used to the new layout but very impressed so far.

Will report back as I get used to it.

[zappaDPJ]

Personally I can't see much reason to use it at the moment because it's effectively Chrome with a huge list of disabled services...

Safe browsing, Speech input, Nearby messages, Google Pay, Link Doctor, Drive API, Ad blocking, Chrome OS hardware id, User data sync, Device registration, Spellcheck, Google Maps Time zone, Suggest, Google Cloud Storage, Translate, Cloud Print, SmartLock, Google DNS, Form Fill, Supervised Profiles, Push Notifications, Address Format, WebStore, Network Location, Extension Store, Network Time, Maps Geolocation, Favicon service, Google Now, Google Cloud Messaging, Single sign-on (Gaia), Content Hash Fetcher, Flighting Service, Component Updater Service, RAPPORT service, Chrome OS monitor calibration, Chrome OS device management, Android app password sync, Offline Page Service Feedback, Domain Reliability Monitoring, Data Reduction Proxy, Chrome Cleanup, Developer Tools Remote, Debugging, iOS Promotion Service, One Google Bar Download, Brand Code Configuration Fetcher, WebRTC Logging, Captive Portal Service.

Obviously some of those services are Google-specific while others have been replaced but some like Spellcheck are gone without replacement.

[zappaDPJ]

It now appears Spellchecking in the form of Hunspell has been put back in with Canary and Developer builds 139

[Den]

So far so good. It's really nice to use and very fast indeed.

I like the layout far more than Edge, IE or Chrome and so far I can not find anything to dislike. 

[Den]

Today Microsoft released the Beta version of Edge which they say is even more stable than the versions released up to now.

I downloaded it and it seems really nice indeed. 

[Den]

The new Edge is released this week. Before you slag it off read the review in Web User magazine or try it yourself, it's amazing. 

[Den]

Downloaded the new full version last night and it's superb. 

[Gary]

Im happy with Firefox Quantum and uBlock Origin and privacy badger on my Mac, just put the same on a friends windows PC. Pretty much stops every nasty snooping tracker and cookie out there. Firefox is still set to strict for Cryptominers and fingerprinting, trackers etc though. uBlock Origin blocked a page on Amazon yesterday to a link with nasty adware implications and its a legitimate Amazon link to an ad server than can be used in nefarious ways.

Even on a Windows 10 PC I cant see the point in using the Chrome built Edge as it cant block the new style so-called unblockable trackers which relies on DNS queries that get past browser defences, which can be potentially used by advertising and analytics networks to fingerprint people as they browse through the web, and silently build up profiles of their interests and keep count of pages they visit, very naughty and nasty.

Only ublock origin on Firefox browsers stops these, as Firefox supports an API to resolve the hostname of a DNS record which uBlock Origin can utilise to stop them. Chrome and Chrome built browsers don't have an equivalent DNS resolution API. Without that these trackers get though no matter what. The nets not a nice place these days, not sure it ever was but its more like an arms race now trying to keep your head down now. Privacy Badger is also well worth using, its from the Electronic Frontier Foundation and automatically learns to block invisible trackers, but even that wont help these unblockable trackers, but its well worth using though.

[nowster]

uBlock Origin, uMatrix, Privacy Badger and Decentraleyes here.

Paranoid? I can't tell you... they're watching me.

[Simon]

Downloaded the new full version last night and it's superb. 

Other than personal preference, in your experience, what makes it so much better than other browsers, Den?

[Den]

It's very easy to use and set up, very fast indeed. It's now able to access lots of extensions and I just can't find anything to dislike with it.

I have now uninstalled Chrome on my computer and will have a play with Firefox even though I hated it last time. 

[steve195527]

Other than personal preference, in your experience, what makes it so much better than other browsers, Den?

its got the speed of chrome without spying of google! the only thing I don't like is lack of ability to email a page/link using your chosen email client(provider)it will only use your Microsoft email addresses or a 3rd party you use to verify your Microsoft credentials,in ie you only had to chose email page or email link to have your chosen client pop up to send message,the share page option in edge is cr*p in comparison,tried sharing a page with myself just to see if it worked,still waiting for page to come to my email addy after 3 weeks!

[Gary]

uBlock Origin, uMatrix, Privacy Badger and Decentraleyes here.

Paranoid? I can't tell you... they're watching me.

If you have uBlock Origin you dont need UMatrix, they overlap The other two are great as well and I recommend Facebook container too from Mozilla. Its a shame Chrome browsers don't have the ability to block CNAME-unlock network requests that are a nasty way to track, as Firefox has the correct API to block them with uBlock Origin, not sure about Brave.

https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/11/21/ublock_origin_firefox_unblockable_tracker/

[nowster]

If you have uBlock Origin you dont need UMatrix, they overlap

They're complementary. You can temporarily block or unblock aspects of a site using uMatrix. For example, a one-off blocking just CSS on a site can often remove some subscription/GDPR overlays. uBlock is useful also for permanently blocking an annoying graphical element of a site using its picker.