While one won’t see Safari on a Windows any time soon, the Microsoft Edge on Mac is a thing. And with the new Microsoft Edge Chromium update, the Edge might be a browser that Apple doesn’t want you to use, that perhaps you should use.
Why?
Oct 29, 2020 The new Microsoft Edge for Mac OS is faster than Google Chrome. Microsoft Edge browser for Mac offers three different types of tracking prevention options. Microsoft Edge browser handles multiple tabs better than Safari, Firefox & Chrome. For Customization, the Edge browser allows you to customize the New Tab page. Thanks to its new Chromium underpinnings, Microsoft's new Edge browser can now handle Chrome extensions on Windows 10 and MacOS. Clifford Colby Jan. 24, 2020 9:28 a.m.
- Jan 16, 2020 The new Chromium-based Microsoft Edge offers a fresh take on web browsing and is available across multiple platforms, including macOS. If you're looking for reasons to switch from the increasingly stale Apple Safari on your Mac, you've come to the right place.
- Mac users hungry for an alternative to Chrome and Safari will be interested to hear Satya Nadella revealed a macOS version of the new Chromium-based Edge at Build. Thanks to public beta releases.
- Microsoft edge for non-windows devices. If you live in (or are a business with a principal place of business in) the united states, please read the “binding arbitration and class action waiver” section 2.14 below. It affects how disputes are resolved.
1. Microsoft Edge on a Mac Brings the Most Extensions Possible to Any Web Browser
One major issue with the Safari browser is the lack of extensions it offers.
Sure, it does offer some extensions, so we can’t say there’s nothing there at all, but the options are mostly limited to ad blockers, and while that’s great, if you are looking for extensions like MailTag, to track when and where your emails are opened, so you can have a peace of mind when sending of emails + data, that’s at this time, not yet possible on Safari.
→ Add MailTag to Chrome
Microsoft Edge Chromium on macOS, from that perspective, is a big win for you and your productivity since it supports all Chrome extensions.
And ultimately that’s a reason or why the Chrome browsers are so popular in the first place. As they support extensions that allow people to get more out of browsers.
Safari Is Better Optimized for MacOS Devices Than Microsoft Edge Chromium
This is not a surprise.
Apple apps are the best optimized, on Apple devices.
The Safari browser renders pages better and works more smoothly on the macOS than the Edge Chromium does. It’s also more battery efficient.
…With that said, if you for instance, currently rock the Google Chrome browser, if you were to switch to Edge Chromium, you would notice a significant increase in performance.
That’s because the Google Chrome browser is incredibly power-hungry.
And if you care about the extensions, that might be a reason to convert to Edge Chromium over Google Chrome.
Edge Chromium Can Do All That Safari Can
If you search for why people like the Safari browser, you will come to the conclusion that it’s for reasons that aren’t unique to Safari.
You can also sync bookmarks, passwords, and history, between different devices on the Edge Chromium. In fact, on the Chromium, you can even sync between Google Chrome. And, unlike Safari, Edge Chromium is supported everywhere. Not to mention that while Chromium is open source, Safari isn’t.
Edge Chromium? It does look similar to Safari. It’s not as simple as it is a more advanced browser, but if you are looking to get more out of your browser because that’s where you spend most of your time, the Edge Chromium on Mac, overall does everything Safari does, but also much more, that Safari won’t ever do.
Edge Brings Privacy
Let’s be clear.
Apple does a great job at making their users feel secure.
Safari is a great browser for safety.
Chrome? It isn’t.
What Microsoft did with the Edge Chromium though, is that it made it much safer than Chrome, with much simpler privacy policies, and safety features that allow us to do something about tracking.
Microsoft Edge on Mac Brings Some Super Useful Features to Mac
Microsoft Edge Chromium brings some unique features such as an ability to create an app out of a website, or a much nicer and useful way to bookmark and save websites for later, with Collections.
Meanwhile, Read Aloud is a great text reader.
You get your dark mode, but you perhaps most importantly, get more options to customize the browser which isn’t really an option on Safari.
Microsoft Edge on Mac – The Only Other Browser to Consider on MacOS Devices
Yep, we said it.
To sum up this Microsoft Edge on Mac review, this is the only other browser to consider.
The things Apple does great are a reason for why many will stick will Safari forever. But if you are reading this Microsoft Edge on Mac guide, then you are probably looking for alternatives, because you know that you aren’t getting the most out of Safari.
…And other options such as Google Chrome or Firefox just don’t deliver on macOS devices.
-->WebDriver allows developers to create automated tests that simulate user interaction. WebDriver tests and simulations differ from JavaScript unit tests in the following ways.
- Accesses functionality and information not available to JavaScript running in browsers.
- Simulates user events or OS-level events more accurately.
- Manages multiple windows, tabs, and webpages in a single test session.
- Runs multiple sessions of Microsoft Edge on a specific machine.
The following section describes how to get started with WebDriver for Microsoft Edge (Chromium).
Install Microsoft Edge (Chromium)
Ensure you install Microsoft Edge (Chromium). To confirm that you have Microsoft Edge (Chromium) installed, navigate to edge://settings/help, and verify the version number is version 75 or later.
Download Microsoft Edge Driver
To begin automating tests, use the following steps to ensure that the WebDriver version you install matches your browser version.
Find your version of Microsoft Edge.
Navigate to
edge://settings/help.
Navigate to Microsoft Edge Driver.
Navigate to Get the latest version.
Choose the build of channel that matches your version number of Microsoft Edge.
The Get the latest version section on the Microsoft Edge Driver webpage
Choose a WebDriver language binding
The last component you must download is a language-specific client driver to translate your code (Python, Java, C#, Ruby, JavaScript) into commands the Microsoft Edge Driver runs in Microsoft Edge (Chromium).
Download the WebDriver language binding of your choice. The Microsoft Edge team recommends Selenium 4.00-alpha07 or later, because it supports Microsoft Edge (Chromium). However, you may control Microsoft Edge (Chromium) in all older versions of Selenium, including the current stable Selenium 3 release.
Important
If you previously automated or tested Microsoft Edge (Chromium) using ChromeDriver and ChromeOptions classes, your WebDriver code does not run on Microsoft Edge Version 80 or later. To solve the problem, update your tests to use the EdgeOptions class and download Microsoft Edge Driver.
Use Selenium 3
If you already use Selenium 3, you may have existing browser tests and want to add coverage for Microsoft Edge (Chromium) without changing your version of Selenium. To use Selenium 3 to write automated tests for both Microsoft Edge (EdgeHTML) and Microsoft Edge (Chromium), install the Selenium Tools for Microsoft Edge package to use the updated driver. The EdgeDriver and EdgeDriverService classes included in the tools are fully compatible with the built-in equivalents in Selenium 4.
Use the following steps to add the Selenium Tools for Microsoft Edge and Selenium 3 to your project.
Add the Microsoft.Edge.SeleniumTools and Selenium.WebDriver packages to your .NET project using the NuGet CLI or Visual Studio.
Use pip to install the msedge-selenium-tools and selenium packages.
Ms Edge Chromium For Mac
If your Java project uses Maven, copy and paste the following dependency to your pom.xml file to add msedge-selenium-tools-java.
The Java package is also available to download directly on the Selenium Tools for Microsoft Edge Releases page.
Use npm to install the edge-selenium-tools and selenium-webdriver packages.
Automate Microsoft Edge (Chromium) with WebDriver
To automate a browser using WebDriver, you must first start a WebDriver session using your preferred WebDriver language binding. A session is a single running instance of a browser controlled using WebDriver commands. Start a WebDriver session to launch a new browser instance. The launched browser instance remains open until you close the WebDriver session.
The following content walks you through using Selenium to start a WebDriver session with Microsoft Edge (Chromium). You may run the examples using either Selenium 3 or 4. To use with Selenium 3, the Selenium Tools for Microsoft Edge package must be installed.
Automate Microsoft Edge (Chromium)
Selenium uses the EdgeDriver class to manage a Microsoft Edge (Chromium) session. To start a session and automate Microsoft Edge (Chromium), create a new EdgeDriver object and pass it an EdgeOptions object with the UseChromium property set to true.
The EdgeDriver class only supports Microsoft Edge (Chromium), and doesn't support Microsoft Edge (EdgeHTML). For basic usage, you may create an EdgeDriver without providing EdgeOptions.
Note
If your IT admin has set the DeveloperToolsAvailability policy to 2, Microsoft Edge Driver is blocked from driving Microsoft Edge (Chromium), because the driver uses the Microsoft Edge DevTools. Ensure the DeveloperToolsAvailability policy is set to 0 or 1 to automate Microsoft Edge (Chromium).
Choose Specific Browser Binaries (Chromium-Only)
You may start a WebDriver session with specific Microsoft Edge (Chromium) binaries. For example, you may run tests using the Microsoft Edge preview channels such as Microsoft Edge Beta.
Customize the Microsoft Edge Driver Service
When you use the EdgeOptions class to create an EdgeDriver class instance, it creates and launches the appropriate EdgeDriverService class for either Microsoft Edge (EdgeHTML) or Microsoft Edge (Chromium).
If you want to create an EdgeDriverService, use the CreateChromiumService() method to create one configured for Microsoft Edge (Chromium). The CreateChromiumService() method is useful when you need to add customizations. For example, the following code starts verbose log output.
Note
You do not need to provide the EdgeOptions object when you pass EdgeDriverService to the EdgeDriver instance. The EdgeDriver class uses the default options for either Microsoft Edge (EdgeHTML) or Microsoft Edge (Chromium) based on the service you provide.
However, if you want to provide both EdgeDriverService and EdgeOptions classes, ensure that both are configured for the same version of Microsoft Edge. For example, you may use a default Microsoft Edge (EdgeHTML) EdgeDriverService class and Chromium properties in the EdgeOptions class. The EdgeDriver class throws an error to prevent using different versions.
Microsoft Edge Chromium Macos Download
When you use Python, the Edge object creates and manages the EdgeService. To configure the EdgeService, pass extra arguments to the Edge object as indicated in the following code.
Use the createDefaultService() method to create an EdgeDriverService configured for Microsoft Edge (Chromium). Use Java system properties to customize driver services in Java. For example, the following code uses the 'webdriver.edge.verboseLogging' property to turn on verbose log output.
When you use JavaScript, create and configure a Service with the ServiceBuilder class. Optionally, you may pass the Service object to the Driver object, which starts (and stops) the service for you.
To configure the Service, run another method in the ServiceBuilder class before you use the build() method. Then pass the service as a parameter in the Driver.createSession() method.
Use Chromium-Specific Options
If you set the UseChromium property to true, you may use the EdgeOptions class to access the same Chromium-specific properties and methods that are used when you automate other Chromium browsers.
Note
If the UseChromium property is set to true, you are not able to use properties and methods for Microsoft Edge (EdgeHTML).
Other WebDriver installation options
Microsoft Edge Chromium For Mac
Chocolatey
If you use Chocolatey as your package manager, run the following command to install the Microsoft Edge Driver.
Edge Chromium For Mac
For more information, navigate to Selenium Chromium Edge Driver on Chocolatey.
Docker
If you use Docker, run the following command to download a pre-configured image with Microsoft Edge (Chromium) and Microsoft Edge Driver pre-installed.
For more information, navigate to the msedgedriver container on Docker Hub.
Next steps
For more information about WebDriver and how to write automated WebDriver tests using Selenium, navigate to the Selenium documentation.
Microsoft Edge
Getting in touch with the Microsoft Edge DevTools team
Microsoft Edge Chromium For Mac
The Microsoft Edge team is eager to hear your feedback about using WebDriver, Selenium, and Microsoft Edge. To send the team your questions and comments, choose the Send Feedback icon in the Microsoft Edge DevTools or send a tweet @EdgeDevTools.