Microsoft Build 2019: Edge browser gets new IE Mode, Cortana to become more conversational

Microsoft’s annual developer conference, Build 2019, has kicked off in Seattle and the company has announced new developments in a number of areas, including AI, the Edge browser, Cortana, and a lot more. One of the small but significant new feature was “Internet Explorer Mode” for Edge that will help businesses run old internal sites that use Internet Explorer directly on the Edge browser with a built-in IE rendering engine. As for Cortana, the biggest update is a new conversational interaction technology which Microsoft acquired from Semantic Machines, a natural language startup last year.
 
Speaking more about “IE Mode”, Microsoft’s Joe Belfiore said that the experience is totally seamless so users would not even notice the change while the current version of Edge would fire up IE 11 which has a UI for modern websites. On the other hand, the IE Mode loads the content in Edge itself making it very appealing for businesses. However, despite the compelling feature, it’s also worth noting that the IE Mode uses Chromium and it could be a big ask for companies.
 
The Edge browser has also received some other new features such as the new Collections feature. It’s a very interesting feature that allows users to, well, collect text, information, and even images onto a note. The content can be shared instantly on social media right from the note. Another feature is the New Tabs page on Edge which will be customisable by businesses. It can be populated with the company logo, some website shortcuts, and integration with Microsoft Office 365. There’s also a new privacy mode with three distinct levels of intensity.
 
Speaking about Cortana’s new update, Microsoft demonstrated the new natural speech recognition engine with a video. I’d rather leave you with the video rather than explain the whole thing. But I’ll say this. The natural speech recognition definitely seems very impressive, however, it remains to be seen if Microsoft will actually be able to deliver on it. If it does, there will be some goals for Google and Apple.

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