After a major failure with Internet Explorer, and a second failure with the classic Edge, Microsoft keeps trying. The new Chromium-based web browser, Edge, is getting all the love and attention that previous versions of the OS didn’t get. In addition to having one of the best engines we can find, Chromium, the same as Chrome, Microsoft is constantly adding new functions and features to your browser. And the last thing that has come to him is, neither more nor less, than a new way of searching the Internet : using your voice.
Mobile web browsers have long had the ability to search by voice . However, this feature is not so widespread on the PC, where it is difficult to find. However, Microsoft has wanted to put an end to this and bring this possibility to the PC as well, so that everyone with a microphone connected to the PC can use it to avoid typing in what they are looking for.
New voice searches for Edge
Until now, only the Bing website allowed us to perform voice searches. And in other elements of the browser, such as in the new tab, this function was not available. Now, starting with version 87.0.664.75 of the browser (the last stable one), some users have begun to see a new button in the new Edge tab that will allow these searches by voice.
At the moment, this new function is only appearing to some specific users. However, Microsoft is already working to bring it to all users of its browser, although it may take a few days to arrive. It does not require to have installed neither the Canary nor the Dev version , it is a feature that will reach all users directly.
With this new feature, users will be able to search using the keyboard and mouse, as always, in addition to using their voice for the same purpose. To use this new feature, all you have to do is click on the mic-shaped icon that appears in the new tab and start talking. And if we don’t want to use the mouse, we can open speech recognition anyway using the Windows + K keyboard shortcut.
It can only be one
Right now Microsoft has 3 browsers active at the same time. On the one hand we have Internet Explorer, on the other the classic Edge, and in a third place the new Edge based on Chromium. This cannot go on like this, and therefore the company is already working to get rid of two of them.
The first browser that will soon disappear will be the classic Edge . As of March 9, 2021, this browser will reach its end of cycle, being without support or updates and passing away. And the next one will be Internet Explorer 11 , a browser that, from August of this year, will directly stop working even with the company’s services.
The new Edge Chromium is here to stay. A modern browser that has many more features and improvements than Chrome itself. A browser that could start a new browser war by making Chrome obsolete.
