Microsoft Edge

Microsoft Edge is a free Chromium-based browser with Copilot integrated across tabs, performance optimisation for Windows, built-in security features and advanced controls, plus mobile versions and business deployment options.

Copilot working across open tabs is the differentiator Microsoft leads with, and it is a more interesting use of an assistant than a chat sidebar. Comparing options across several open pages is a task people genuinely do by hand, tab by tab, and an assistant that can read all of them at once is doing something the user cannot easily do themselves.

Being optimised for Windows is a real advantage rather than marketing, since Microsoft controls both sides and can tune startup, sleeping tabs and resource handling against the operating system's own scheduler in a way a third-party browser cannot.

The enterprise story is where Edge is strongest and least discussed. Group policy management, Internet Explorer mode for legacy internal applications, and integration with Entra identity and Defender make it the path of least resistance for organisations already running Microsoft everything, which is how it reached its share rather than by winning consumers from Chrome. Edge is free.