Microsoft Edge Browser for Mac

chscag

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Just thought I would mention I recently installed the new MS Edge browser for Mac.

The browser is based on the open source chrome code and seems to be much faster and somewhat better at user privacy regarding tracking.

The browser is very configurable and will import your bookmarks from either Chrome, Safari, or another browser. It also will import your passwords if you allow it access to your keychain.

I'm going to test it for several days to see how well it performs and will keep you posted.

If you do want to download and try it out for yourself, here's the URL: Download New Microsoft Edge Browser

If you decide to try it out, please post your result to this thread.

Thanks all.
 
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Thanks Charlie.

Is Edge tied to Bing exclusively, please, and does Import Bookmarks from Safari actually work? I found this the major problem with Brave.
 
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Thanks Charlie.

Is Edge tied to Bing exclusively, please, and does Import Bookmarks from Safari actually work? I found this the major problem with Brave.

I'm not Charlie, nor do I play him on TV ;) ..... But you can select a search engine.
Xnip2020-02-24_23-15-31.jpg


As for importing from Safari, can't say, rarely touch it
 
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chscag

chscag

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Hi Harry:

No, Edge is not specifically tied to Bing. You can use whatever search engine you want. It imported all my bookmarks and passwords from Chrome and will do the same from Safari.
 

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Always happy to trial a new browser I downloaded this Edge browser a little while ago on iOS/iPadOS just to try but at the time the macOS version was unavailable. I was pretty impressed with its speed and preferences so as soon as I saw it available for macOS I downloaded it.

For once, before writing a review, I thought to check if there were already any posts on Edge here and sure enough chscag has beaten me to it.

Anyway as expected or at least hoped for a flagship browser, it's a pretty polished act and considerably better on macOS than the portable versions of course.
I'm using the "Recommended" tracking prevention setting, one of three possible settings so I have stayed with Bing as a Search engine for now. I have however added the Ghostery extension and settings from my previous Ghostery subscription for the extension on Firefox.
There are plenty of extensions available in the Microsoft Store I was even able to instal the extension for Enpass, my password manager.

As I have and have had a Microsoft account for years it was easy to sync my devices and like my old Google account I have turned on Two Step Verification which is greatly simplified with the use of Microsoft Authenticator on my iPhone. I don't know if its just me but the process seems much easier with Microsoft than it ever was with Google.

Having set most of the preferences the way I want them (for now) I have been running Edge as my default browser for about 4 days. Nil issues so far. It's fast, smooth and easy to set up with a lot more "power" than Brave which I had been using for about 6 months as default. Just something as simple as Spell Check gives you so many more options it's hard to compare.

So, how is everyone else finding it?
 
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See:

Private and Secure Browsers
7 Secure Browsers to Protect Your Privacy and Stay Safe

Scroll down to "Issues with other browsers"
#2 Microsoft Internet Explorer/Edge

"Edge is a Microsoft product.

"Just like with Windows, it’s a good idea to avoid Microsoft products, including Internet Explorer, and their newer browser called Edge. Internet Explorer and Edge are also closed-source, so there’s no telling what’s going on behind the scenes, and they’re also not the best for privacy reasons."

I have to agree. It's just not a good idea to trust Google or Microsoft if you have other equivalent options. Neither company is into privacy...quite the contrary.

If you want to use a browser based on Chromium (as is Microsoft Edge), there are a number of really nice ones from companies that are more worthy of being trusted. E.g.:

Brave (my favorite currently)
Slimjet
Vivaldi
UR
 
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Speaking of privacy....if you've read my previous posts here you know that I've been on a quest to find the best browser and the best search engine.

The problem with using Google or Bing as a search engine is that both of those companies make their money by harvesting your personal data (and I mean *a lot* of your very personal data) and selling it. That's too bad, because both Google and Bing give excellent search results. So, I've been looking for an alternative that is completely secure and trustworthy, but which also gives excellent results on a par with Google or Bing.

I think that I may have found the Holy Grail of search engines!

Searx is entirely secure, non-profit, ad-free, and it uses both Google and Bing and a number of other search engines for its results, but it shields you and your personal information from those services. So it gives you the best possible results and the best possible security all in one search engine!

Go to this Web site and use Searx as you would use Google or Bing:
searx
or you can click on Advanced and do a more focused search.

Review of Searx:
5 Best Private Search Engines | Browse anonymously [Google alternatives]
Item #2

So far, in my testing, Searx has been superb!
 

Rod


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I'm not sure a agree completely with the principal of steering away from Microsoft products simply because they are made by Microsoft. Yes, I use an Apple product wherever I can as I have done since my first Mac over 20 years ago but when an Apple made product does not fill my requirements I look for one that does. I have been using Brave browser pretty much exclusively for the last 8 months, I have persevered though a few glitches and hiccups because I respect the developer's aspirations and what they are trying to do. For the same reasons I have given LibreOffice and OpenOffice a good run in the past. Open source programs need and deserve our support.

I have tried to rid myself of everything Google because I feel their apps are invasive, difficult to manage and have altogether too much access to my personal data.
I no longer use Google Maps but I have had no luck finding a viable alternative to Google Translate. I do use MS Word because it works across all my devices and I can backup and sync my data via One Drive.
So I think it would be fair to say I endeavour and prefer to use open source, socially responsible, secure programs/apps where possible as long as they fill my needs. In the cases where only a commercial, corporate app is the only viable option then I use the tools at my disposal to make it as safe as I can.
Interestingly, using Troy Hunt's excellent site "Have I Been Pwned?" my Microsoft and my Apple email address are the only two that have never been "Pwned" not so my gmail address.
I'm not prejudiced against any software developer, there are just some I don't trust.

Randy, I had a look at Searx, it's amazing, I recommend everyone take a look at this search engine.
 
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I'm not sure a agree completely with the principal of steering away from Microsoft products simply because they are made by Microsoft...In the cases where only a commercial, corporate app is the only viable option then I use the tools at my disposal to make it as safe as I can.

I agree. For instance, I'm an attorney, and I have need of a high-end word processor, which I use all day, everyday. So, by and large I use Microsoft Word. Nothing else has the range of features that Microsoft Word has, and I make great use of many of those features. I've used Microsoft Word for about 33 years. It's the best tool for my job, and I won't cut off my nose to spite my face by settling for a cheaper, lesser product.

(I do use FreeOffice on one of my laptops, as I don't do most of my writing on my laptop.)

But understand that Microsoft is not your friend. They are not consumer-centric like Apple at least tries to appear to be. Microsoft developed Bing, for instance, not because they wanted to be nice and give us another free choice for Web searches, they developed Bing because Google was making a ton of money harvesting users' private information and aggregating it and selling it for advertising purposes. They saw it as low-hanging fruit.

Is Bing better than Google in respect to privacy? - Quora

Given that there are other search engines available, and that some of them are as good or better than Bing, yet offer far superior security, I think that it's a good idea to use one of them instead of Google or Bing.
 

Rod


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Good article Randy, a bit ironic that I have to use Facebook or Google to read the links. Obviously I need to get a Quora subscription. I shall do so, I've been putting it off. What do you think of Ecosia? I notice its an option on lots of browsers but I know next to nothing about its origin.
I mean it says it uses advertising revenue generated by my searches to plant trees. But.....?
 
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Rod


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Wow, where has this search engine been? Randy, thank you, Searx is really good, ticks all my boxes and privacy respecting as well.
 
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Wow, where has this search engine been? Randy, thank you, Searx is really good, ticks all my boxes and privacy respecting as well.

Oh, I'm really glad that you have enjoyed it Rod!

Two nights ago I was testing Searx, and I went into Searx' preferences and switched on a whole bunch of search engines. Then I did a search for someone that I knew in high school and that I've searched for before with no success. They came up immediately, and I found out that they were part of a famous commune in Hawaii. There were photos and everything!

Searx is great. I just hope that the code isn't purchased by some big company and ruined.
 

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Me too. As it is it works perfectly for me but I'm a little concerned by the "public instance" component, see; 9 Best Private Search Engines for 2020 | Restore Privacy
I'd love to get your opinion on this. As always you help me learn. I now know a lot more about DuckDuckGo I didn't know before.


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...I'm a little concerned by the "public instance" component...

I see that as an advantage, not a problem.

There are a large number of public instances of Searx. You can choose one (or more than one) that you like best based on how well the instance is performing, and the jurisdiction it resides in.

(If the instance is outside your own country it's unlikely that your home country can get a warrant for your browsing information. This is more a problem here in the U.S., where our government has been spying on the public in a big way since 9/11. Also, some countries have much stronger privacy laws than others.)

Here is a list of public instances of Searx. Chose which is best for your needs. You don't get this choice with most other search engines:

HAHAHAHA....as soon as I said this, I went to get a link to the long list of public instances of Searx...and it's *gone*. Can't find the long list anywhere. I don't know what to make of that. This is the public instance I've been using for the past couple of days:

LavaSearx
 

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Well that explains something for me because I had the same problem this afternoon. I'll happily use the instance you provided for now and check again tomorrow.


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Ah, good news. I check the list tomorrow. Thanks again Randy.:)
 
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Ah, good news. I check the list tomorrow. Thanks again Randy.:)


So, rummaging through the list, this instance of Searx stands out:

Searx Belgium

(Don't forget to go into Settings and turn on all of the search engines you want it to use, before using it for the first time. It doesn't use the settings that you've set from other instances of Searx.)
 

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Oh, that figures, I didn't notice that last bit. I'll check the search engines again. Didn't get much time today.
 

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