Microsoft gets a major browser upgrade that will make you ditch Chrome

Microsoft is rolling out a major new upgrade on its Edge browser that could make it better than Google Chrome. The technology giant announced that it is opening Edge Workspaces, a new feature, for a limited public preview. Edge Workspaces allows you to create a space in the browser dedicated to a particular work project or family trip, giving the browser its own name, set of tabs and favourites. This will allow you to save and share groups of browser tabs using a single link, making collaboration easier.

Last year, Microsoft gave fans a glimpse of the new feature. Now the company has finally offered a detailed look into how all of this works.

Microsoft noted that Edge Workspaces would provide a great way for you to separate your browsing tasks into dedicated windows so you can stay focused and organised across tasks.

While this sounds similar to Edge’s Collections features – which allows users to save and organise webpages – Workspaces lets you share these tabs with your colleagues, who can then add or change the tabs across the team.

For those worried that their co-workers could use this feature to spy on their work, Microsoft noted that this feature is not browser screen sharing.

Furthermore, the feature does not share browser data among people who are sharing an Edge Workspace. Each user will only see content that they have access to.

In order to access Edge Workspace, you will need to be signed into a Microsoft account, which means that a user will need to log in with their own credentials to access an email account or content.

They added that Edge Workspaces will not share browser or confidential account data like logins, cookies, and passwords with anyone else who has access.

If you are using Google Chrome, however, don’t worry. Chrome extensions like Tablerone and Tabox offer many of the same features as Edge Workspace, although you’ll have to find and download them from the Chrome Web Store.

If you’re ready to get on the same (web) page and try out Edge Workspaces, you can access the preview here. A few things to keep in mind before you start:

You will need to be signed into your Microsoft account using Microsoft Edge version 111.0.1661.51 (or higher). If you do not yet have a Microsoft account, you will need to create one to get started.

You will receive 5 invites to send to friends and family to join the preview. As we are starting with limited preview, this will be subject to availability.

We’re starting with a limited group of users to gather feedback and will expand to more users during the next several months.

Workspaces will be available on PC and Mac to start.