Microsoft Edge gets big update with better full-screen controls, more

The Microsoft Edge Stable channel gets updated roughly every six weeks, and it’s time for a fresh release. Microsoft announced the launch today, noting a bunch of new features that are now rolling out to Edge users. The most notable relate to improvements to the collections feature, along with better full-screen navigation, and much more.

Here’s a full look at what’s new in Microsoft Edge version 84.0.522.40:

• This version of Microsoft Edge provides improved site list download times for Internet Explorer mode. We’ve reduced download delay for the Internet Explorer mode site list to 0 seconds (down from a 60-second wait) in the absence of a cached site list. We’ve also added group policy support for cases when Internet Explorer mode home page navigations need to be delayed until the site list is downloaded. For more information, see the DelayNavigationsForInitialSiteListDownload policy.
• Microsoft Edge now allows users to sign-into the browser when it’s “run as administrator” on Windows 10. This will help customers running Microsoft Edge on Windows server or in remote-desktop and sandbox scenarios.
• Microsoft Edge now provides full mouse support when in full screen mode. Now you can use your mouse to access tabs, the address bar, and other items without having to exit full screen mode.
• Online purchase improvement. Add custom nicknames to saved debit or credit cards. Now you can distinguish and differentiate your credit cards when making online purchases. Nicknaming your debit or credit cards lets you choose the correct card when using autofill to select a payment method.
• TLS/1.0 and TLS/1.1 are disabled by default. To help discover impacted sites, you can set the edge://flags/#display-legacy-tls-warnings flag to cause Microsoft Edge to display a non-blocking “Not Secure” notice when loading pages that require legacy TLS protocols. The SSLVersionMin policy permits re-enabling of TLS/1.0 and TLS/1.1. This policy will remain available until at least Microsoft Edge version 88.
• Collections improvements:
  • A note capability is added that lets you add a note or comment to an item in a collection. Notes are grouped together and stay attached to an item even if you sort the items in a collection. To try this new feature, right-click on an item and select “Add note”.
  • You can change the background color of notes in collections. You can use color coding to help you organize information and increase productivity.
  • There are noticeable performance improvements, which lets you export your collections to Excel in less time than in previous versions of Microsoft Edge.
• Additional Microsoft Edge API support:
  • The Storage Access API. This API allows access to first-party storage in a third-party context when a user provides a direct intent to allow storage that would otherwise be blocked by the browser’s current configuration.
  • As privacy is becoming increasingly important to users, requests for stricter browser defaults and user opt-in settings like blocking all third-party storage access are increasingly common. While these settings help improve privacy and block unwanted access by unknown or untrusted parties, they can have unwanted side effects such as blocking access to content the user may want to view (for example, social media and embedded media content.)
  • The Native File System API, which means you can give sites permissions to edit files or folders via the Native File System API.
• PDF improvements:
  • Read Aloud for PDF lets users listen to PDF content while carrying out other tasks that may be important for them. It also helps audio visual learners focus on reading the content, making learning easier.
  • PDF file editing is improved. Now you can save an edit made to a PDF back to the file instead of saving a copy each time you edit the PDF.
• Microsoft Edge now enables Translation in the Immersive Reader. When a user opens the Immersive Reader view, they get the option to translate the page to their desired language.
• DevTools supports customizing keyboard shortcuts to match your editor/IDE, which includes VS Code.

If you’re already running Microsoft Edge as your browser, you can update to this build through the settings menu. Otherwise, the Microsoft Edge Stable channel is available to download from Microsoft’s official website. The Insider releases are also up for grabs from the Edge Insider website.