Microsoft Edge

I’ll take the flack for this: Microsoft’s new browser is good. It’s very good, actually, to the point where you might actually forget about the disaster that was Internet Explorer. Edge is also one of the most direct alternatives to Chrome, because it runs on the same engine, Google’s “Chromium.” For that reason, Edge and Chrome have a lot in common, including a similarly stark design, shared extensions, and nearly identical tab management. You can even sync over passwords, bookmarks, addresses, and more from Edge to Chrome without much effort.

With that in mind, if you’re looking for a completely new experience, Edge isn’t the answer for you. If you want to keep everything you loved about Chrome while gaining a few perks, look no further. The top reasons to use Edge over Chrome are for its more efficient use of resources, particularly your system’s RAM, and its more robust security features (mind you, Chrome sets a low bar). Edge also has some useful exclusive features: sidebar search lets you look up highlighted terms in a sidebar search engine, websites can be installed as standalone apps, a built-in coupon and promo feature can save you tons of money, and Collections is a great way to organize related searches.

There will be a short transition period before you get Edge to fit your needs. The first thing to do is swap Bing with your preferred search engine (Google, maybe?). Microsoft also likes to bombard you with recommendations to use its other products. Oh, and do yourself a favor by ignoring the warnings it pushes whenever you try to download another browser.

Edge is available for free on all major platforms, including Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS. It is the default browser installed on Windows PCs.