Chrome vs Edge is the new comparison in the web browser arena. Microsoft has already moved to the Chromium base for its Edge browser. After it, Edge is giving tough competition to all browsers in every area including performance, security, and privacy.
Google Chrome is the king of all web browsers as it has the highest usage on both computer and mobile devices. The Windows-based computers come preinstalled with Microsoft Edge. The tech giant Microsoft has been constantly making significant changes to its browser to take it to the next level.
Although the basic experience on both of the browsers is nearly similar. But there are still some differences in terms of features. Edge offers full support for extensions available in Chrome Web Store.
We need to do a detailed comparison on Chrome vs Edge to find which one is best for you.
Chrome Vs Edge: Comparison
So without delaying more, let’s go further and know in which aspect both browser Chrome and Edge are different from each other. We will find which browser is the winner in every area of the web browser.
User-Interface is an important part of every web browser. It is the way a user interacts with the browser. Many elements are part of the user interface. All of these small elements contribute to user-experience. A web browser with an intuitive and easy-to-use UI can easily attract users.
Both Chrome and Edge offer similar features but still, you will find the difference in the functionality of these browsers. Memory usage of the browser is also considered in overall comparison. A browser that takes too much memory will get slow when more tabs are opened. Also, more energy is consumed when browser memory consumption increases.
Performance is the most important thing of any web browser. In fact, almost every internet user chooses a browser due to its performance. The better performance can easily improve the user-experience of the browser. So a browser should be fast enough to get your job done in minimum time.
We should also give utmost importance to the privacy of our data. As you know, we do all of our internet-related tasks through a web browser. Privacy and Security are vital for every internet user and should be incorporated into the web browser.
User-Interface
Under this section, we are going to analyze the user-interface of Chrome and Edge. The user interface of Microsoft Edge looks much similar to Chrome. The URL/search bar and menu look almost similar in both browsers. On its homepage, the default search engine is Bing.
Traditionally in most browsers, you see tabs are arranged horizontally at the top. But in Microsoft Edge, you can stack tabs at the side of the browser vertically. You can also customize the page layout of its new tab window. Every day it gets updated with new wallpapers that look great.
Chrome’s user-interface looks much cleaner and well-defined. In the setup process, it can easily import browsing data from the existing browser. The appearance of the Google browser can easily be changed by using themes available in Chrome Web Store. It also allows you to change the default search engine by going into settings.
Although you will not find much difference in the user-interface of both these Chromium-based browsers. The Tabs Management works the same way in both browsers.
So when it comes to design and user-interface, both Chrome and Edge are almost similar. Even a newbie can use these popular browsers with ease. So there will be a tie in this area.
Winner: Tie
Speed and Performance: Chrome vs Edge RAM Usage
The speed and performance of any browser is the deciding factor for any internet user. A browser should be able to load any web page in the lowest time with minimum fast response. RAM management is essential to enhance the speed of the browser. The browsers can easily become unstable and crash when too much memory is consumed.
I have used both Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome as my primary browser. But did not notice any visible difference between these two regards performance.
Talking about Edge, It has become way faster and responsive after switching to Chromium. Also, Microsoft has done a great job in the are the area of RAM optimization. A computer running on an old configuration can easily run Microsft Edge.
Microsoft has also implemented a feature called Sleeping Tabs. It optimizes the performance of the browser by automatically releasing system resources for the active tabs which you are using. Using this, Edge’s memory consumption gets reduced by 32 percent on average. Also, CPU consumption reduced by almost 37 percent that leads to an increase in battery life
When it comes to performance, Chrome provides excellent speed. Almost every website loads fluently in Google’s browser. For getting the best performance from Chrome, you need a modern computer with more memory.
The key difference between Chrome and Edge is RAM usage. Microsft Edge utilizes less amount of memory and CPU while providing blazing fast performance.
In terms of raw performance, both Chrome and Edge are great. But due to less memory consumption, Edge has got a significant performance advantage over Chrome.
Microsoft Edge is the clear winner in the performance area.
Winner: Edge
Security and Privacy
A good browser should respect the privacy of the users. It means the browser should protect the personal or confidential information of the user to provide maximum privacy. When it comes to security, the browser should be capable of protecting your system and network from hackers.
It should get an update on a regular basis. The update should happen automatically. It keeps your browser updated without any delay.
On the privacy part, Microsoft Edge has got more privacy settings than Google Chrome. You can easily find all the privacy settings and configure them accordingly. It can easily block trackers on any website you visit. With it, your personal information is likely to remain unshared across websites. You can also choose between one of three tracking prevention levels. It allows you to control how much information will get collected while web browsing. This tracking prevention is based on three-level including Basic, Balanced, and Strict.
On the security of Edge browser, Microsoft Defender SmartScreen is incorporated in it. It helps in protecting against malicious websites and shady downloads.
When it comes to the privacy part, Google Chrome is not the best option. It offers limited functionality to block third-party cookies. Chrome is always known for its privacy issues. In fact, it uses your personal information to direct relevant ads to you on different social media platforms. On the security, Google Chrome is great. It uses the Safe Browing database to easily identify & block dangerous websites, extensions, and downloads.
Both in terms of security, both Chrome and Edge are excellent. But Microsoft Edge is best in terms of online privacy. With Edge, you will remain assured about not getting tracked online.
Winner: Edge
Extension Support
Nowadays, every browser comes with extension support. A browser should have good extension support for different tasks. Most power users use different types of extensions to enhance their productivity. For example, you can get an extension to improve YouTube experience, weather, blogging, shopping, and more.
Microsoft Edge Extension store is continuously growing and has lots of essential extensions that are needed on daily basis. In case, if a browser extension is only available in Chrome Web Store then you can also download and use in Microsoft Edge also. All you need is to simply toggle “Allow extensions from other stores” on the Edge Extensions page in settings. There might be an occasional incompatibility of Chrome extensions in Edge.
Google’s Chrome Web Store has a vast variety of browser extensions that works flawlessly with Chrome. Most of the extension comes with support for Chrome exclusively. You can find lots of different extensions in various categories.
Although in the last few months Microsoft Edge has made extensive improvements in the Microsoft Edge Extension page. But Chrome has an upper hand in the extension support area.
Winner: Google Chrome
Platform Support
Microsoft Edge’s Chromium-based version is almost a new browser. So it will not be a surprise that Edge can’t fully compete with Google Chrome on platform support. But still, it is pretty close in this area.
Tech giant, Microsoft’s browser is available on Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android. A Linux build of the Edge browser is already in development. This Linux version will support Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, and OpenSUSE distributions. Microsoft has provided any indications to provide support for ChromeOS.
Google Chrome is also available on different platforms including Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, and Linux.
Here, Chrome wins by a very small margin. As soon as Microsoft releases the stable build of Edge for Linux, it will be a tie.
Winner: Google Chrome
Features
Both Edge and Chrome have some unique features. Microsoft Edge has a feature called Edge Collections. With it, you can group similar webpages and name them. These groups can easily be accessed by clicking on a collection.
Microsoft Edge also has a built-in screen web capture tool. It allows you to take screenshots within the Edge browser. Most of us install browser extensions to take screenshots within the web browser. But Edge does this job with ease.
Microsoft’s browser has also got a special feature called “Read aloud”. It will read everything or selected text in a web page. Its great features for those people who have weak eyesight.
If you want to cast your content to other devices, Edge supports Miracast and DNLA protocols. On the other hand, Chrome can easily output the content to Chromecast devices.
If you use most of the Google’s service including Gmail, Google Docs, Google Maps and more then you may find it a challenge in moving to another browser.
Surely, Microsoft Edge has some unique features and options when compared to Google Chrome. Although both browsers are based on the same Chromium engine Microsoft Edge wins in this area by providing some special features.
Winner: Microsoft Edge
Conclusion: Google Chrome vs Microsoft Edge
So now here we come to conclusion of the comparison of Chrome vs Edge. Microsoft Edge has defeated Chrome in two most important areas including performance and security & privacy. Microsoft has incorporated several changes in Edge that make it an excellent browser that is made for the modern web.
Edge easily beats Google Chrome by providing exception privacy settings. Also, it uses fewer system resources than Google Chrome.
Google Chrome is still a great web browser with excellent performance. But it does not use privacy options.
Microsoft has already committed itself to make continuous & significant improvements in Edge. Surely, Microsoft Edge is the best chromium-based web browser that easily outsmarts Google Chrome.
