Microsoft’s Edge browser gets a major boost with Xbox gaming features

Microsoft’s Edge browser has already been trailblazing the browser space since its original debut back in 2015. Microsoft’s alternative to Google Chrome and Apple Safari has been chipping away at the browser space, and to further set itself apart from the competition, they’re leveraging their Xbox gaming ecosystem to give them (for lack of a better word) an “edge”. By making Microsoft Edge an extension of the Xbox ecosystem.

Microsoft has added a new tab to the homepage called “gaming” and this is where you can access all the new gaming features of Edge. Inspired by the Xbox UI (which I’m not entirely sure is a great idea, but that’s a conversation for another time) Microsoft Edge can almost act as your console away from your console.

Among the new features is clarity boost, which is meant to enhance the streaming experience on Edge that can’t be done on other browsers. Chief among them is reduced latency. This can be done regardless of the computer or laptop you are using, as long as you are in the Edge browser you will also receive this upgrade.

We all know that browsers tend to be resource hogs. In order to better focus on the game, Edge begins to change the way that its resources are being used, so instead of dividing them up equally among multiple tasks, Edge simplifies it, so you can game with as few interruptions as possible.

This is another step in the right direction for Microsoft, which has been growing its Game Pass service for the past few years. Making Game Pass as accessible as possible to as many people as possible has been its main goal, and now they’re using that leverage to grow their market share in the browser wars.

I’m partial to Safari myself, but the new features being brought to Microsoft Edge certainly have given me some pause as to what my browser choice should be. Like many Game Pass subscribers, the ease with which I can access the service is crucial, but even more important than that is the quality of the service that I’m accessing.

The service can be finicky at times, as well as extremely laggy. My experience with Safari on my MacBook Pro is perfectly fine, but when I access the service through my iPad Pro, I often experience high latency. Both are using Safari, yet the experience isn’t streamlined. Microsoft claims to have fixed that problem if you use Microsoft Edge, which is reason enough for me to give it a go.