Edge was Microsoft"s chance at reinventing itself in the browser space and showing that it could still compete with Google and Mozilla by churning out a formidable browser. While Edge"s feature set continues to lag behind its rivals", Microsoft is certainly intent on making that happen, with frequent updates and feature improvements.
Today, Microsoft is bringing the first platform update to the rendering engine powering Microsoft"s new browser. Called EdgeHTML 13, this update has been under testing by Insiders for months already but, following the "November Update" to Windows 10, it is now making its way to the masses.
One of the biggest improvements to come from the new rendering engine is better support for standards; compared to when Windows 10 was released, Microsoft has managed an impressive increase of 56 points on the HTML5 test, all within a matter of months. The current score, 458, is also a far cry from where Internet Explorer 11 stands (336).
Along with snappier performance, the update also brings major enhancements to Chakra, the JavaScript engine. Standing tall with the highest score in the Kangax ES6 compatibility table, the revamped Chakra engine brings with it many new features, such as default support for asm.js, async functions and much, much more.
Alongside these developer-focused features, of course, are also consumer-facing ones, such as Tab Previews and an improved UI, all of which we have reported earlier.
While still not the best browser in the business, Edge does seem to be on its way to realising Microsoft"s dream of reasserting itself in the browser space, not just in terms of market share but also features and performance.
Source: Microsoft