8 reasons why designers should consider using the Edge browser
I did something that I never thought I would in my lifetime. I am now using Internet Explorer, I mean Microsoft Edge :p as my primary browser.
So far I am loving it, and here is why you should give it a try too…
1. Unlimited access to ChatGPT
That’s right. You can access GPT-4 through Bing. But unlike ChatGPT, which has no data after 2021, Bing compensates for it by pulling in latest data from its own search engine.
Chat: The chat tab lets you chat like you would with ChatGPT. When you choose the chat tab, you can pick one of three tone options: More Creative, More Balanced and More Precise.
ℹ️ Select More Creative to get creative unique answers, just like on ChatGPT
🔥 You can chat with Bing in context to the web page that you are in. For example, if you are reading this article on Edge, try asking Bing to “summarise this article”.
Compose: Create content faster with the Compose tab. Whether you need an email, an idea, or a draft article, just enter your topic and preferences. You’ll get a ready-to-use text in seconds. You can also use the Chat tab to generate content but with less guidance.
Insights: Discover how your website performs with Insights. Find out your site’s rank, traffic changes, audience sources, and more. Just open any website on Edge and click the Insights tab. It’s that easy.
2. Easy access to DAll.E
Add a prompt and generate images from the comfort of whatever page you are in. Under the Chat tab input a prompt like how you would on DALL.E or Midjourney and get your results. Bing also gives suggestions to make your image better.
ℹ️ Make sure you select “More Creative” as the tone of response if you want to access DALL.E and generate unique images. The “More Balanced” option will mostly show you images that already exist on the internet, while the “More Precise” option will always do that.
3. Save inspirations into Collections
If you need to save links, images, and notes as inspiration for a specific project, browser bookmarks can get messy and hard to delete. That’s why you should try Collections. You can easily organise your inspirations into categories and access them anytime.
4. Take screen-shots and make edits
Forget about unreliable chrome plugins for screenshots. Edge has a built-in screenshot tool that lets you edit and also use the screenshot image as input for image search.
5. Share files across any device
Sharing files between different devices can be a hassle. I used to email or whatsapp or slack files to myself until I found Drop on Edge. Drop lets you drag and drop files into a chat-like interface and access them from any device with Edge.
6. Reduce RAM usage with Sleeping tabs
As designers it is natural for us to open a million tabs on our browser and run a couple of softwares simultaneously. Edge has a feature called sleeping tabs. Tabs that you don’t use for a while will automatically go to sleep which can greatly reduce your RAM usage.
7. More screen space with Vertical tabs
In addition to having a million tabs open, if you are a designer with a wide screen monitor, you will appreciate the vertical tabs feature.
8. Try all shopping coupons in a jiffy
This is not design specific but who doesn’t love discounts 🤷🏽♂️? If you spot a coupon input box on your favourite website, you can click on the “Shopping tab” on the right navigation panel and then click “Apply Coupon”. Edge will then try out all available coupons and pick the best deal for you.
⚠️ A word of caution when using the coupon feature: some websites might temporarily block you, as Edge automatically tries all coupon codes — which can look like a malicious attack.
