Since Microsoft decided to switch its Edge browser over to the Chromium source code, making it able to use Chrome plugins and take advantage of other compatibility boosts, it has grown in popularity and now sits as the third most popular of all web browsers. A new Edge update looks set to keep pushing forward in the same direction, as it looks like Microsoft is building a new command bar option into the browser. Let’s go through the details.
Microsoft tests out new features for Edge in test versions called Microsoft Edge Canary. In Microsoft Edge Canary 105, ghacks.net have spotted a new command bar that will allow Edge users to issue various commands such as opening office web apps, opening new tabs, or even opening other apps.
In other browsers like Chrome and Firefox, this type of feature is built into the address bar, but it looks like Microsoft is building a standalone tool for Edge users. This might be due to the added power it will have over competitors such as being able to open new programs.
Microsoft has been building several tools into Edge recently that bring a bit of Windows directly into the browser. This includes a native calculator tool for the browser, a unit converter, and even a unit converter. Adding a standalone command bar to the browser will make it a very powerful tool indeed and could even see users launching the browser at startup as it will have pretty much everything, they need right there at their fingertips.
This feature is still in development mode, so it is still a way off from a general rollout for now. To use it in Canary, you need to press CTRL+Shift+Space together and it will open just below the address bar. There is a good chance that when this feature does receive a general rollout to all users it will likely work the same way, but we will update you when we learn for sure how to use it.
With more and more Microsoft Edge updates coming all the time, and the browser growing in popularity every day make sure you don’t miss any updates by bookmarking our Microsoft Edge News page and subscribing to push notifications.
