Microsoft Edge update adds tab groups and new shopping features
Planning and booking a trip might be a bit easier too.
Just ahead of the Windows 11 launch, Microsoft is rolling out some updates to Edge. Perhaps the most useful feature for most people is the addition of tab groups. You'll be able to assemble collections of tabs to make your browser a little less chaotic.
To create a group, hold the control button and choose the tabs you want to include, then select "Add tabs to new group" from the right-click menu. You can customize the label with a different color for each group. When you hover over a tab, you'll be able to see a preview of the web page as well.
Microsoft Edge is also getting some handy shopping features. The browser can give you swift access to reviews and ratings for more than 5 million products. When you're on a product page, click the blue tag on the address bar and you'll see expert reviews from reliable sources, as well as the average consumer star rating from various retailers.
When you do figure out what to buy, Microsoft aims to help you complete the transaction a bit faster. If you select a retailer's guest checkout option, you can click "Try express checkout" on the address bar. After you fill in your details manually one time, Edge can save them for future transactions on any shopping site. Once you're sure everything's accurate, click the "Try all coupons and autofill details." Edge will then add your information and automatically find out if there are any coupons that can save you some cash, in a similar way to PayPal's Honey tool.
Elsewhere, Edge now has built-in travel recommendations. When you look up flights, you can click a notification on the address bar and you'll see suggestions of things to visit and do at your planned destination. The tool is only available in the US and on select booking sites for now, but it will be available elsewhere soon.
On top of that, it should be a bit faster for you to look for flights and hotels across multiple websites. Once you enter details on a booking site, Edge can store that info. It can then autofill the travel dates and so on when you visit another site. The company says it has improved flight search results in Bing too with the help of travel industry partners.
Elsewhere, the new personalized news feed called Microsoft Start is integrated into the browser. You'll see headlines and articles relevant to your interests from a range of publishers when you open a new tab.
