Microsoft is planning to significantly simplify its Edge browser when it comes to app settings.
Windows Latest has noticed that the official Microsoft 365 roadmap website now has an update for Edge that tells us that the browser's settings are getting a makeover to be more organized.
In the roadmap entry titled 'Microsoft Edge: Elevate top settings and improve settings page navigability', the software giant explains what simplification measures are being implemented and that the rollout of these changes is expected to begin in October 2024.
The first step Microsoft is taking is a new Quick Access panel on the Edge Settings home page. This will provide one-click shortcuts to the most frequently used actions in the center of the menu that appears when you access Settings.
Secondly, when you access a submenu in Settings, such as System & Performance or Appearance, it will also have the same one-click shortcuts for frequently used options.
And finally, Microsoft plans to break up the long lists of options you explore in Settings into smaller subsections, similar to a table of contents in a book.
Analysis: A step in the right direction
All of this is aimed at making it easier to find options to change things in Edge, and it seems like a sensible plan to us. Navigating through settings can be a chore at times, and having shortcuts to all the most used options right from the start will be very useful. No, it's not a move that's going to make Edge more popular than Chrome, but it will help (and Edge is already a good product: it's at the top of our list of the best web browsers, after all).
Note that there are no changes here in terms of the actual functionality of settings in Edge – it's a reorganization of how they're presented, with a lot of useful one-click shortcuts included.
In some ways, this is taking a cue from Chrome, as Google's browser generally has a tighter organization when it comes to settings (and even at its messier parts, Chrome is certainly no worse than Edge).
It's also worth noting that while the rollout will begin in October, Microsoft is referring to the early testing stages of the revamped Settings panel. Of course, it could be some time before work progresses through testing and into the release version of Edge, and some work in the preview build never sees the light of day. We have a feeling this will pass muster, though, as Edge could benefit from some improvement in the organization of its options.
