With the redesigning of Microsoft Edge with Chromium in January 2020, the browser keeps getting better with fresh updates. Earlier in 2021, Microsoft announced the release of a new feature known as startup boost.
So, the release of Edge version 88 came with the startup boost. This is a page load feature that serves to support the slow-loading tabs.
Startup boost reduces the time you take to open the browser, either after rebooting the device or reopening the browser. As a result, the feature maximizes your device’s performance.
The feature operates by enabling the Microsoft Edge processes in the background. With the enabled processes, Microsoft Edge becomes available immediately when you need to use the browser.
Stable channel experimentation compared Microsoft Edge running with startup boost enabled and when not enabled. The result showed that startup times improve by 12% when the feature is enabled. What does this experiment imply? It means that launching Microsoft Edge with an enabled startup boost allows you to find the website you want faster.
If the startup boost for Microsoft Edge maintains faster page loading for its browser, it might be the game changer in enhancing the user experience. Let’s find out more about this remarkable feature.
How Can Users Benefit from Startup Boost Experience?
The Microsoft Edge startup boost comes in to enhance the user experience. By improving the browser launch time, users can accomplish tasks faster due to the increased access speed to sites.
It’s impressive to see how Microsoft, which has been operating for over three decades now, continues to add better features to benefit users. Let’s see below how users will benefit from the startup boost feature.
1. Convenient Browsing
New features like the startup boost have made things convenient for individuals and institutions. As more technological developments emerge, individuals and institutions like schools should keep up with these trends.
Let’s take students who are studying online for example. With remarkable browsing features like startup boost, the students can enjoy learning more. This is because the page load feature enables easier and quicker task accomplishment.
For instance, students already taking beneficial courses like Microsoft office courses, or those anticipating to take such courses, will benefit significantly from this new feature.
Most of these courses require students’ interaction with the internet. Hence, with the Microsoft Edge startup boost feature, online learners can access instructional articles faster. In addition, they can also have better engagements with their instructors.
As a result, more students may be inspired to take up related courses like Microsoft office certification courses and Microsoft access training.
Employees and executives who wish to learn amidst their tight schedules can also benefit. The faster browsing and access to websites may allow them to maximize some time in the day to learn, research, and grasp the needed skills and content faster.
Furthermore, with startup boost, lessons like Microsoft office online, which can be empowered with online videos, enables learners to access the videos faster.
2. Improved Digital Competency
Still, with the learning institutions’ example, enhanced browsing speed can enable students to familiarize themselves with videos for online learning. As a result, they add to their digital competency, one of the 21st century’s most critical skill-sets.
Usually, videos are excellent go-to resources that you can view from anywhere and at any time. Therefore, if students access the internet faster, they can watch and learn from different devices like tablets, smartphones, and laptops.
Thankfully, the new browser experience is steadily moving to all the devices operating Microsoft Edge’s Windows version. As soon as Microsoft transfers the new settings into the Stable version, users should benefit from much better and faster browsing experiences from different devices.
How Does Microsoft Edge Influence Startup Boost?
As soon as a user logs into windows, the startup boost works automatically by launching a Microsoft Edge background process. Immediately you initiate Microsoft Edge, the background process establishes a new browser window for user interaction.
Again, when you close the browser Windows, the Edge background will keep running. The Edge process continues to run as it awaits a new request to re-launch the browser.
The current trend shows that in the coming days, the startup boost feature will be enabled automatically. With the launching of the feature, Microsoft Edge is now operating at 41% startup time, which is an improvement from 29%.
The startup boost is available on Windows devices. The devices should contain more than 4GB of RAM. For devices with modern disks (modern HDD with Trim and SeekPenalty or SSD), it should have more than 1GB of RAM. You can access the feature whenever Microsoft Edge is your default web browser with no extensions installed.
If startup boost is not yet enabled on your device, you can enable it manually in the browser settings. To turn on the startup boost feature, you need to navigate your settings menu and then go to the system page.
You can enable or disable the startup boost in Microsoft Edge settings as follows:
- Open Microsoft Edge and click on the three-dotted lines in the top-right corner, and then click on settings.
- From the Settings, go to the System section.
- Once under the system section, click on the startup boost switch to turn it on or off.
- Restart your browser for the startup experience.
When users enable the startup boost setting, the web browser launches several Microsoft processes in the background. The processes allow faster launching of Microsoft Edge on Windows 10.
Even when your browser is not visible, startup boost works in the background by keeping several Microsoft Edge processes running. This enables the browser to start quickly.
Just by clicking the Microsoft Edge icon, you can access a hyperlink from a different application. You can also search for whatever you want from the task bar’s search box.
Resource usage is essential to customers. It helps to know that when Microsoft Edge browser windows are open, startup boost will not add extra resources. Due to its low priority policy, the feature’s impact on resource usage is limited. Hence, it won’t affect users’ PCs by slowing them down.
Furthermore, when the browser is closed, the central Microsoft Edge processes continue running to allow faster future launches. This explains why you might see the browser, Network, CrashPad, Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), or other processes still running in the background after closing the browser.
Conclusion
Startup boost’s first release was in the Stable channel 88.0.705.53 on Windows devices. By inventing the page load feature, Microsoft aims to improve the users’ browser access experience. Soon, you will access the feature in the Edge 89 release on Windows to the Stable channel.
From the look of things, we are set for faster browsing moments ahead. With the speeding up of the browser’s startups, we anticipate better interaction with the online platforms.
The feature also gives you liberty over your browser’s performance. This implies that you can choose to either enable or disable the startup boost at any time.
Notably, the new browser experience is progressively shifting to all Microsoft Edge’s Windows version devices. That’s why Microsoft is targeting different devices to monitor how startup boost operates with each particular device type. They want to ensure performance improvement with the feature and not performance decline.
Since the new capacity is still in testing mode, we expect to get more from Microsoft Edge. Once they transfer the new settings into the Stable version, users should benefit from much-improved browsing experiences.