Microsoft Edge gets flashy new Copilot features and Designer photo editing app – but is that enough to beat Chrome?
Microsoft is improving its own web browser, Microsoft Edge, with all kinds of artificial intelligence, user experience, and integrated app upgrades. The first of these is a new ‘Enlarge Image’ feature that will allow users to zoom in on images more easily. There are also upgrades to Edge Copilot, the browser version of Microsoft’s new flagship digital AI assistant, which is currently in testing.
The “Enlarge Image” feature comes with a recent update to the stable Edge version (the version released to all users after Microsoft deemed it ready for a wide rollout). The way most users currently need to view a larger version of an image is to right-click on the image and click “Open image in new tab.” This will prompt the browser to open a full-resolution version of the image in a new tab.
According to Windows LatestTo use the new magnification feature, users will need to make sure they have the latest update for Edge. They should then be able to right-click on an image and choose “Enlarge Image” from the menu that opens. This will open the image in magnified mode, which should appear as a sub-window that opens within the boundaries of the tab, eliminating the need for a new tab to see the image and its details.
You can also enter a preview mode to explore the image by left-clicking on the image, which gives users three new controls in the bottom-left corner of the preview. These new options allow users to zoom in and out and reset the appearance of the image in the preview subwindow.
Copilot gets a character boost in notebook format
Another big change being reported is currently still in preview and testing, but it sounds pretty exciting nonetheless β and it concerns the Edge version of Copilot.
You can already access Copilot by clicking the Copilot icon in the Edge sidebar to chat with the bot directly in the Edge window. A current major drawback to Edge Copilot is that there is a character limit for user input, but it looks like this will change thanks to an upcoming ‘Notebook’ option. Windows Latest reports that this feature will expand the character limit for prompts to 18,000 characters, allowing users to enter very long prompts.
This is a somewhat surprising upgrade for the feature, considering it already exists in the main version of Copilot. Microsoft is apparently working on putting this feature in the context menu in Edge’s Copilot.
Users will need to change their browser’s startup settings to make the Notebook option available and currently it is only available through the experimental Canary version of Edge, which must be downloaded and installed first. Once the Edge Canary version is installed and the Notebook option for Copilot is enabled, you can enter longer, more detailed prompts in Copilot, although you will need to sign up for the Windows Insider program to access the Canary channel.
Say hello to the Designer app in Edge
The Edge Canary version also brings greater Designer app integration to Edge. The current public Edge version allows users to open images in edit mode, which is similar to the Windows 11 Photos app’s edit mode, and gives users some basic image edits, along with the option to save the image and the option to copy it to their clipboard.
Windows Latest reports that these features are moving to the Microsoft Designer web app, which is already accessible in the Edge Canary version. In this version of Edge, users can click Edit and Designer will be prompted to open a subwindow, all within the scope of the same tab. The app allows users to use the newer and more advanced AI tools that Microsoft offers for photo editing, such as Blur, Background Remover, and basic editing actions – all without opening a new tab. Like the Notepad feature, users will need to install the Edge Canary build and enable the Designer app.
Windows Latest does outline that the Designer app takes longer to load images, but otherwise the AI ββtools are the other biggest difference between the Designer app and the editing mode of the current Edge version.
These are exciting developments that I think β or at least hope β could encourage people to try out Microsoft’s new AI tools and features, and perhaps even convince users to make Edge their browser of choice . The two Edge Canary features are still in testing and subject to change, but the Magnify feature should be available to all users who have updated their Edge browser – and we’ll likely see final versions of the other features very soon.