Microsoft has begun rolling out version 83 of the Chromium-based Edge browsers to users in the stable channel. This follows last month"s release of version 81, as Microsoft decided to skip over version 82 as a consequence of the coronavirus pandemic.
Version 83 includes a few major improvements, starting with the ability to sync extensions across devices and instances of the browser. Edge still doesn"t support history or open tabs syncing, even though the options are visible in the settings page. Collections have also seen some improvements, with the ability to drag an item into a collection withou having to open it, plus the ability to add multiple items and tabs to a collection at once.
Edge can also now switch profiles dynamically, so if you"re using a personal account and try to access a resource that required your work account, you"ll be switched to the respective profile automatically. There have also been some improvements to Microsoft Defender SmartScreen to protect from websites that redirect you elsewhere. The Immersive Reader can now be used with selected content on a webpage, essentially making it possible to use the feature on any webpage, and it can now highlight adverbs in the Parts of Speech experience.
There are a handful of smaller updates, such as the ability to exempt certain website cookies from being cleared when the browser is closed, improvements to link correction in the address bar, and better messaging regarding insecure downloads that have been blocked. There are also some new policies that can be set, such as disabling the Edge surf game, as well as a single security update listed here.
One thing that"s worth noting about this release is that Microsoft is rolling it out in stages, so not everyone will be getting it right away. This is done in order to make sure any last-minute issues are caught before a full rollout is finished, but for now, it will only affect Windows users. The update should make its way to everyone in a few days.