During the Microsoft Build 2019 Keynote yesterday, we were shown a brief glimpse of the new Microsoft Edge running on macOS. In a blog post released in conjunction with MS Build, Microsoft stated that the macOS version would be released soon.
'If you’re not on Windows 10,' stated Microsoft in a blog post, 'don’t worry―we’re looking forward to sharing builds for macOS and previous versions of Windows soon.'
Plus, in my usage, Microsoft Edge has offered great performance. The browser isn’t a resource or power hog like Chrome but even on a MacBook Pro, it performs almost flawlessly, which is a huge boost. Look, Microsoft Edge on macOS is great, in fact, a lot of people including Akshay from our team have made the switch to Edge but it’s not. Best Browser for Mac in 2021: Leaving Safari Behind. Though Safari is far from the worst browser out there, Mac users could also do so much better than Apple's default browser. Building a “Mac-like” user experience for Microsoft Edge. Microsoft Edge for macOS will offer the same new browsing experience that we’re previewing on Windows, with user experience optimizations to make it feel at home on a Mac. We are tailoring the overall look and feel to match what macOS users expect from apps on this platform. With Edge still a pre-beta offering, the performance in these tests is very impressive. It seems to me the Edge browser, once released, may set the pace for raw browser performance. The Edge browser has a large footprint, using a good deal of a Mac’s CPU performance by spawning multiple helper apps using multiple threads to render web pages. Open Microsoft Edge by finding it in your Dock or Applications folder. To enjoy the best cross-device experience after completing your Microsoft Edge download for Mac, consider logging in to your Microsoft account from the Edge browser. To do this, open Microsoft Edge, then click on the profile icon next to the URL bar and click Sign In.
As always happens after Microsoft announces an upcoming software release, Windows sleuths search for and have found ways to download and install the macOS version before it is fully released.
Below we take a look at the Microsoft Edge browser on Mac.
First look at Microsoft Edge on Mac
For our test, we tried the Microsoft Edge Canary version for Mac, which is currently version 76.0.151.0.
Like the Windows builds, when started for the first time you will be brought to the new tab page (NTP) and asked if you would like to import data from Safari and to customize the layout of the page.
If you decide to import your Safari data, it will import your browsing history and bookmarks.
Otherwise, using Microsoft Edge on the Mac works really well and has the same speed and performance that we have seen in the Windows version.
One thing, we did notice when testing the browser is that it includes the Microsoft Defender Browser Protection extension.
Bundles Microsoft Defender Browser Protection extension
The Mac version of Microsoft Edge does not include Microsoft's browsing protection feature called SmartScreen.
To provide similar protection, they have bundled their Microsoft Defender Browser Protection extension. With this extension installed, Edge will query SmartScreen before visiting a page to determine if the site is malicious.
This browser extension is installed as a system extension, which means that it will not be shown under edge://extensions as seen below. This also means that you cannot right click on the extension's icon and remove it like you would a normal browser extension.
Edge Browser Mac Reddit
Instead, if you wish to remove the Microsoft Defender Browser Protection extension, you will need to go to edge://flags and search for 'Protection'.
You will now see an option labeled 'Enable Microsoft Defender Browser Protection Extension', which you should set to disabled. You will then be prompted to restart the browser, and once you do so, the extension will have been removed.
To add it back, you can enable this flag to Default again and restart the browser.
As Edge for macOS does not include SmartScreen, it is not recommended that you remove the browser extension as it will protect you from malicious sites.
PlayReady DRM not available
Another feature missing from the Mac version is the lack of PlayReady DRM support in the browser.
Ms Edge Browser For Mac
At this point, we will have to wait and and see if Microsoft can bring PlayReady to Edge for macOS or integrate Apple's FairPlay DRM in Edge as an alternative.
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