Microsoft is now claiming the performance crown in the desktop browser battle. The software maker has been gradually adding new features to Edge over the past year to improve performance and launch times. These additions have allowed Microsoft to claim itself the performance winner, even as Google releases Chrome 91 today.
“Microsoft Edge will be the best performing browser on Windows 10 when Microsoft Edge version 91 releases later this week,” says the Microsoft Edge team in a blog post. “So, why can we say this? It’s simple: startup boost and sleeping tabs.”
Microsoft first started rolling out its new startup boost feature in Edge back in March, with claims that it makes browser launches up to 41 percent faster. The new sleeping tabs feature also appeared earlier this year, designed to improve browser performance. Edge now automatically releases system resources for inactive tabs, which helps new tabs run better or stop the browser from hogging memory and CPU resources in the background. Microsoft is also working on a separate performance mode for Edge that’s currently in testing.
Google hasn’t been sitting around letting Chrome eat up more RAM, either. Recent updates to Chrome have included a bigger focus on performance, with a more advanced memory allocator to reduce memory usage and increase performance. The last update to Chrome in 2020 was also all about efficiency.
Microsoft has also revealed it has now submitted 5,300 commits to the Chromium browser project, which will also benefit Chrome and other Chromium-based browsers. While sleeping tabs and startup boost are features for Edge, Microsoft has helped Google improve Chrome’s tab management, and the rivals have worked together on a variety of underlying Chromium improvements.
