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Microsoft has announced an expansion for its flagship web browser that can be one way to solve common headaches of professionals.
As announced at Microsoft Ignite 2022, Microsoft Edge will soon take advantage of a new feature called Workspaces, described as “a set of browser tabs that allow groups to view the same websites and work files in one place”.
Now in preview, the feature is designed to eliminate the problems associated with collaborating on complex projects, giving teams shared canvases on which to collect the web-based resources they need.
Work browser?
Since Microsoft Edge rebooted in early 2020, it has struggled to achieve the kind of market penetration Microsoft had hoped for.
The latest data from Statcounter shows that while Edge has overtaken established alternatives like Mozilla Firefox, it still lags far behind Google Chrome and Safari in terms of market share.
In addition to delivering a regular cadence of feature updates, Microsoft has used a number of less traditional tactics to accelerate Edge’s growth, but not all of them have proved popular with users.
For example, the company was recently forced to withdraw a policy that added an unreasonable amount of friction to the process of changing the default browser after users expressed their displeasure.
Microsoft has also come under fire for trying to prevent links opened through its own services (e.g. Windows 11 widgets, the Start menu, etc.) from launching in a browser other than Edge, another tactic that has been criticized by the company. community.
However, the company could have more success with its plans to introduce new business-focused features in the web browser.
Microsoft already has a monopoly in the enterprise market from a devices point of view, with Windows-based business laptops and computers (most of which come with Edge pre-installed) preferred by the vast majority of organizations.
If Microsoft can convince professionals that Edge is a proposition worth considering, it has the potential to attract many millions of additional users. And by addressing common hybrid work pain points for employees, features like Workspaces can somewhat achieve that goal.
Ultimately, if Microsoft Edge is going to compete directly with Chrome, it must make a claim to a particular niche or use case. In the business market, it may have found one.