I really hope these new Microsoft Edge features don’t come to the Chrome browser

I’ve continued experimenting with Chromium Edge for fun and to see how it differs from Google’s Chrome browser, and I’ve found things I like both more and less. It’s certainly interesting, that’s for sure, and I’ve noticed that while Microsoft adds features quicker and earlier than Chrome, Google tends to wait longer, but implement Chromium-based tools in more innovative and unique ways.

In its latest effort make users more productive and help them multitask, Microsoft just added a slew of extra things to the right-hand side of the screen. As reported by Techradar, the company is implementing the sidebar to let you search, discover related content, play games, and check your mail without even leaving the tab you’re on.

There is also a calculator built in, as well as some other tools. If this sounds familiar, that’s because it’s exactly like Chrome’s Side Panel that we speak so much about lately. However, unlike Edge, Chrome doesn’t have nearly as much crap piled into the panel, and I dare say what it does have is much more useful.

Between Google Lens, Reading list, bookmarks, and more, as well as a new customize feature for the browser itself, I’m starting to like it more than I thought I would. However, if Microsoft’s efforts are a sign of the future, what with both companies copying each other with the Chromium source code, then we may be in for a bunch of extra stuff in Side Panel that we never really even wanted or asked for!

I hope Google is a lot more careful about how it moves ahead with Side Panel. It already has a calculator built into Google Search, your Chromebook and the Web Store, and games are in the Play Store and in the cloud. You can check your Gmail and that’s just a click away with a web app or URL, and – well, you get the point.

Side Panel may offer quicker, more convenient access to these things, but that doesn’t mean everything should be housed there. I personally think that what Edge has done is unappealing, and if Google does end up going this route, the ability to hide or disable the panel itself would be a welcome addition.