Microsoft hopes to give Windows 10 users a productivity boost
with the rollout of a new feature called “Workspaces” in
Microsoft Edge which aims to organize your browsing
activities to form a cohesive tabs management experience.
The addition of “Workspaces” in Microsoft Edge is part of a
wider effort by the company to improve tab management in the
browser. To put it simply, “Workspaces” is a way to expand
browsing activities into multiple groups. So, instead of having
just one tab strip with all open tabs, you can have numerous
“workspaces” i.e groups.
This new feature for Microsoft Edge will follow the same
approach used in Windows 10’s virtual desktop and Google’s
Chrome. Like virtual desktops or Chrome’s Tab Groups, Edge’s
workspaces give you more space for separate task-related
browsing activities and it also allows you to quickly find what
you need, so you’re always ready to go.
Workspaces in Edge is better than tab groups in Chrome
With workspaces, organizing tabs is easier than ever and this
is another instance where Microsoft has done a better job than
Google.
As you see in the above screenshot, you can create workspaces
by clicking on a new button located at the top left corner.
With workspaces, you can dedicate different tab groups for
different tasks. For example, you can have one group for normal
web browsing, and one screen for office/school work.
When you use workspaces, you’re not launching another instance
of Microsoft Edge, which means the browser won’t consume a huge
amount of memory.
Customizing workspaces is also straightforward. Click on
“Create a new workspace”, add a name and select colour. In each
workspace, you can add as many tabs as you need. Once you have
added tabs, they will appear under the “workspaces” pane, as
shown in the screenshot below.
Workspaces is not the only feature coming in the next big
update for Edge. According to experimental flags and options
discovered in settings,
Microsoft Edge is also getting support for a new security
feature on Windows 10.
Likewise, there are plans to improve vertical tabs, flyout
menus, and more.
Growth of Microsoft Edge
One year after leaving beta, Microsoft Edge has already managed
to double its market share and
overtake Firefox to become the second most popular browser
on Windows and third most popular browser on the desktop.
As of March 2021, Microsoft Edge holds 8% of the browser market
according to StatCounter. Although Chrome is still the most
popular browser at 68%, Microsoft’s browser is slowly catching
up.
Microsoft’s web browser numbers would likely increase more in
the coming months as users who are still using Internet
Explorer 11 are slowly migrating.
