Fortunately Internet Explorer is finished. Microsoft‘s browser has suffered many ups and downs throughout its long life. However, the company is scheduled to die for August 17, 2021, the date from which this browser will die and give way to Edge, Microsoft’s browser based on Chromium. IE has had many good things, and many bad things. But, although he is already running out of his last days of life, he is still influencing the development of his little brother, Edge, who is going to adopt one of his most peculiar characteristics.
If we have ever used Microsoft’s browser , surely one of the functions that most caught our attention was the possibility of opening files when downloading them without actually saving them on the PC. This function, strangely enough, has not been copied by any other browser.
At first, this may seem obvious, since when we download a file what we are looking for is to save it. However, on certain occasions it is a very useful function. For example, when we download a program installer, since it will allow us to install it on the PC without having to worry about deleting the installer manually later on.
Right now, Microsoft has all its efforts put in Edge, its next generation browser. And, although this browser copies all the features of Chrome, by using both the same engine, Microsoft continues to reach out to introduce functions and features that allow it to differentiate itself from Google’s browser, like this one.
Open, save and save as: the new Edge download options
Starting with Edge version 87.0.629.0 (version found within the Canary branch of the browser), users of this program may find these new options when trying to download a file.
As we can see, from now on, when we go to download a file we can choose what we want to do with it. If we choose the “Open” option , the file will be downloaded to the computer and, when it finishes downloading, it will open automatically. We can do whatever we want with it (for example, install the program), but when we finish the file it will be automatically deleted from the computer.
If we choose the ” Save as ” option, we will be able to see a window in which we will be asked where we want to save the file. And the “Save” option will simply use the default path to save the file.
Finally, the “Cancel” option allows us to cancel the download.
Configure how we want to download files
This new option will reach all users when the stable version 87 of the browser is released . For now, only users of the Canary branch will be able to use it. However, in the event that we do not like this option, we will be able to deactivate it so that the Edge downloads work the same as those of Chrome.
To do this, all we have to do is enter the browser settings, in the downloads section. We can quickly get to it by typing the following in the address bar:
edge://settings/downloads
Here we are going to find the option ” Ask me what to do with each download “, which, as its description indicates, will allow the browser to always ask us if we want to save a file or open it without saving.
We can check or uncheck this box as we want, depending on the behavior we want the browser to have.
Of course, Microsoft has done a great job with its browser. If we have issues with Chrome or Firefox, we can easily migrate to Edge keeping our data to give it a try. Is a new browser war looming? Time will tell.
