Microsoft Details Edge Chromium Roadmap

Since the launch of Microsoft Edge Chromium, the company is actively collecting users' feedback for the browser. Today, Microsoft shared a detailed roadmap for the Edge browser. Here are the features we can expect in the near future in the newest Microsoft Edge Chromium.

As you may already know, Microsoft Edge, the default web browser of Windows 10, is moving to a Chromium-compatible web engine in the Desktop version. Microsoft explains that the intention behind this move is to create better web compatibility for customers and less fragmentation for web developers. Microsoft has already made a number of contributions to the Chromium project, helping to port the project to Windows on ARM. The company promises to contribute more to the Chromium project.

Microsoft has prepared the following roadmap for the browser, keeping in mind the collected feedback.

September 2019

Planned to be addressed in the Canary channel in September 2019:

• An option to prevent auto-play of video and audio when you open a website
• A round of improvements to scrolling experience, with more (including performance) to come down the line
• The addition of a favorites button to the toolbar, to provide quicker access to favorites

October 2019

Planned to be addressed in the Canary channel in October 2019:

• Inking on PDFs
• When you sign-in to the browser, your sign-in profile picture will accurately be kept up to date.
• When you have more than one profile, better handling for opening links and attachments in the appropriate profile.
• An option to set your own photos as the background image on the New Tab Page
• Enable search in the extensions store
• A bug fix for users who receive an “Administrator Mode Detected” notification (advising them to close and relaunch the browser in non-administrator mode) each time they launch Edge
• ClickOnce deployment of Windows applications from web pages

The following feedback requests are under review by the team:

• Feature requests for the New Tab Page, including the capability to turn off the news feed, to hide the Bing search bar, to change the search provider, to rename tiles, and to support Dark Theme
• Bring back features from the current version of Microsoft Edge such as tab set aside, tab preview, "Ask Cortana", and the reading list
• Make it easier to share web content with other users and apps
• Provide an option to set a custom home page
• Update the user interface with the Fluent Design System, including less rounded tabs
• Support themes from the Chrome Web Store
• Allow sign-in to the browser with a Google account
• Provide different options for sorting favorites
• Provide run / open / save / save as options when downloading files

Finally, Microsoft is working on improvements and fixes in the following areas and invites you to join testing and provide your feedback.

• Edge should use less memory and CPU than it does
• Scrolling should feel smoother, both for web pages and PDFs
• Update does not always work reliably
• Drop-down menus in some web pages are not working.

The actual pre-release versions of Edge Chromium at the moment of this writing are as follows:

• Beta Channel: 76.0.182.16
• Dev Channel: 78.0.244.0 (see what's new in this version)
• Canary Channel: 78.0.249.0

I have covered many Edge tricks and features in the following post:

Hands-on with the new Chromium-based Microsoft Edge

Also, see the following updates.

• Microsoft Enables Global Media Controls in Microsoft Edge
• How to Use Cloud Powered Voices in Microsoft Edge Chormium
• Microsoft Edge Chromium: Never Translate, Prepopulate Find with Text Selection
• Enable Caret Browsing in Microsoft Edge Chromium
• Enable IE Mode in Chromium Edge
• Stable Update Channel Made its First Appearance for Microsoft Edge Chromium
• Microsoft Edge Chromium Receives an Updated Password Reveal Button
• What are Controlled Feature Roll-outs in Microsoft Edge
• Edge Canary Adds New InPrivate Text Badge, New Sync Options
• Microsoft Edge Chromium: Clear Browsing Data on Exit
• Microsoft Edge Chromium Now Allows Switching Theme
• Microsoft Edge: Support for Windows Spell Checker in Chromium Engine
• Microsoft Edge Chromium: Prepopulate Find with Text Selection
• Microsoft Edge Chromium Gets Tracking Prevention Settings
• Microsoft Edge Chromium: Change Display Language
• Group Policy Templates for Microsoft Edge Chromium
• Microsoft Edge Chromium: Pin Sites To Taskbar, IE Mode
• Microsoft Edge Chromium Will Allow Uninstalling PWAs as Desktop Apps
• Microsoft Edge Chromium Includes YouTube Video Info in Volume Control OSD
• Microsoft Edge Chromium Canary Features Dark Mode Improvements
• Show Icon Only for Bookmark in Microsoft Edge Chromium
• Autoplay Video Blocker is coming to Microsoft Edge Chromium
• Microsoft Edge Chromium is Receiving New Tab Page Customization Options
• Enable Microsoft Search in Microsoft Edge Chromium
• Grammar Tools Are Now Available in Microsoft Edge Chromium
• Microsoft Edge Chromium Now Follows System Dark Theme
• Here’s how Microsoft Edge Chromium looks on macOS
• Microsoft Edge Chromium now installs PWAs in the root of the Start menu
• Enable Translator in Microsoft Edge Chromium
• Microsoft Edge Chromium Dynamically Changes Its User Agent
• Microsoft Edge Chromium Warns When Running as Administrator
• Change Search Engine In Microsoft Edge Chromium
• Hide or Show Favorites Bar in Microsoft Edge Chromium
• Install Chrome Extensions in Microsoft Edge Chromium
• Enable Dark Mode in Microsoft Edge Chromium
• Chrome Features Removed and Replaced by Microsoft in Edge
• Microsoft Released Chromium-based Edge Preview Versions
• Chromium-Based Edge to Support 4K and HD Video Streams
• Microsoft Edge Insider extension now available in Microsoft Store
• Hands-on with the new Chromium-based Microsoft Edge
• Microsoft Edge Insider Addons Page Revealed
• Microsoft Translator is Now Integrated with Microsoft Edge Chromium