Microsoft Edge is about to get a whole lot faster – so watch out, Chrome

(Image credit: Microsoft)

The switch to the Chromium engine gave many people a new reason to try out Microsoft Edge. Now Microsoft has revealed something else that might motivate more people into taking its web browser for a spin.

The company says that it has introduced new optimisations into Edge that have made it significantly faster. Benchmark results show that there has been a 13 percent improvement in performance – a figure that's not to be sniffed at!

Microsoft reveals the results of tests carried out using the Speedometer 2.0 benchmarking utility. They show that the new toolchain optimisations that have been enabled bring about what the company describes as a "substantial performance improvement in general browsing workloads".

The improvements can be seen in Microsoft Edge build 81.0.389.0 on 64-bit Windows 10, which has been compared with build 79.0.309.71 of the browser. Microsoft points out that the benchmarks were performed on "Windows 10 1909 (OS Build 18363.592) on a Microsoft Surface Pro 5 (Intel(R) i5-8250U CPU 1.60GHz and 8 GB RAM), with no other applications running and no additional browser tabs open".

The need for speed

The Speedometer 2.0 benchmark works by simulating real-world web usage, and Microsoft's test show that Edge 79.0.309.71 (the current stable build) yielded a score of 84.85. Version 81.0.410.0 of the browser saw this figure increase to 96.15, while in build 81.0.403.1 is was 95.6.

For now, the speed improvements can be enjoyed by anyone running the Dev or Canary preview builds of Edge, but they will land in the stable version before long. If you're eager to see how much faster things are, you can download and test the preview versions.

If you're yet to try out the Chromium-based version of Edge, what are you waiting for? There's never been a better time to give Microsoft's web browser a test drive.

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Via Windows Latest

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Sofia is a tech journalist who's been writing about software, hardware and the web for nearly 25 years – but still looks as youthful as ever! After years writing for magazines, her life moved online and remains fueled by technology, music and nature.

Having written for websites and magazines since 2000, producing a wide range of reviews, guides, tutorials, brochures, newsletters and more, she continues to write for diverse audiences, from computing newbies to advanced users and business clients. Always willing to try something new, she loves sharing new discoveries with others.

Sofia lives and breathes Windows, Android, iOS, macOS and just about anything with a power button, but her particular areas of interest include security, tweaking and privacy. Her other loves include walking, music, her two Malamutes and, of course, her wife and daughter.

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