When it comes to browsers, Google Chrome is considered one of the best. It offers fast browsing, reliable security and tons of features, making it hard for other browsers to beat it. However, that doesn’t mean no one is trying to beat Chrome. In fact, Microsoft has already launched its latest browser to go head to head against the browser giant.
With the introduction of Windows 10, Microsoft introduced the Microsoft Edge (Codename, Project Spartan) browser. The new browser is fast, secure and adds new features that people love. However, the question remains, can it beat Google Chrome? Well, let’s find out.
Browsing Speed
Browsing speed is the most important part of any browser. Most people won’t use the browser if it doesn’t load fast enough. Let’s check out how these two browsers do when it comes to speed.
Note: although there are speed test tools that we can use, in this article we are using the most primitive approach, measuring how fast each browser loads a web page using a stopwatch.
Test Environment: HP 15-r264dx i3 Laptop with 2.1 GHz processing power and 6GB RAM along with an Internet download speed of 9.30 Mbps (at the time of the test). Chrome was newly installed with no sign-ins or any other data sync or extensions added. Microsoft Edge was untouched without any kind of data sync. Before each test, both browser caches and cookies were deleted to ensure accurate results. The set of web pages we used for the test were Make Tech Easier, Hello Monday, Alex Buga, Lorem Ipsum and Facebook.
Your results may vary depending on the test environment.
Here is the result:
| Google Chrome | Microsoft Edge | |
|---|---|---|
| Make Tech Easier | 3.27 seconds | 3.56 seconds |
| Hello Monday | 6.59 seconds | 6.72 seconds |
| Alex Buga | 6.26 seconds | 6.43 seconds |
| Lorem Ipsum | 1.23 seconds | 1.96 seconds |
| 2.11 seconds | 2.87 seconds |
Microsoft Edge didn’t get to beat Chrome in this test, but still the timing is very close. Microsoft did a better job on a JavaScript-heavy website like Hello Monday, but it was quite behind in loading a simple website like Lorem Ipsum. In a real-world scenario, this little difference is completely unnoticeable.
Winner: Google Chrome for being slightly faster.
Security
After speed, security is a big concern, and for some people, nothing comes before security of their data and identity. Let’s check out what security features Chrome and Edge provide.
Google Chrome’s security features
Google Chrome has a bit of a bad reputation for tracking personal data (this is not surprising as Google is the biggest advertising agency). However, there is no clear proof or regular data hogging, but if that little chance of using your personal data isn’t a problem for you, then it is good to go. Apart from this concern, Google actually has many good privacy and security features. This includes a “Safe browsing” feature that protects you against malicious websites, a “Sandboxing” feature to protect from malicious code with plugins and websites and “Incognito mode” for private browsing leaving no traces.
Chrome also provides the ability to control how much information you would like to give up and completely customize. The “Do not track” feature is perfect for privacy-concerned people who don’t want to be tracked.
Microsoft Edge’s security features
Microsoft is really concerned about security with Edge and offers almost all the security/privacy features Google has to offer. This includes “Protected Mode” (Sandboxing), “InPrivate tabs” (Incognito mode), “Do not track” and all customization options Chrome has to offer. Furthermore, it also offers Microsoft’s own “SmartScreen” features that prevent you from downloading malicious content and checks “Certificate Reputation” to warn about fake websites.
Winner: Microsoft Edge for its added security features.
Features
Features to help make browsing easy is an important part of any browser. So far we are not even sure whether we should compare these two browsers on features or not as Edge is quite new. However, we are still going to do it, as features play an important role in making browsing easy.
Google Chrome’s features
Chrome is a mature browser with tons of features. One of the most important features of Chrome that Edge lacks is extensions and plugins support. This lets Chrome add almost any new feature using third-party plugins. Apart from this, Chrome has a built-in PDF viewer, data sync, OK Google support, guest browsing, HTTPS certificate management and much more.
Microsoft Edge’s features
Edge might be lacking in features, but it has some interesting features that even Chrome doesn’t offer by default. Its features include reading mode, annotation, reading list, Web sharing, Cortana integration, and direct integration with Windows 10. Microsoft also confirmed that extension support is coming to Edge soon.
Winner: Google Chrome for having more features than Edge.
Conclusion
Microsoft Edge is turning out to be a great browser, but it is still in the early stages and lacks many things that developed browsers offer. So maybe it is too early to judge Microsoft Edge and put it up against the browser giant. Hopefully it will have a brighter future, and we may compare them again. For now, Google is still the King.
Republished with permission from MakeTechEasier. Read the original.
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