With an intent to have its default browser favored by gamers (and others), Microsoft is working on a feature to allow Edge users to limit the browser's RAM consumption. Once applied, other applications can take advantage of the free memory. According X / Twitter user Leopeva64, who was quick to notice this new option, the Edge browser will allow you to set the RAM limit via a slider.
Microsoft released this experimental Edge feature in its Canary Build. The setting is placed under the Edge browser's 'System and Performance' tab. The tab will allow a more user-friendly ability to limit system memory, but it's designed for 'more-than-casual' users. Additionally, this feature also has a function to allow you to limit the RAM use all the time, or specifically when you play a game.
Interestingly, Microsoft did not mention this experimental feature in its Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26090 announcement.
The slider has memory interval options from 1GB, up to the system's maximum physical memory. Gamers and content creators can take advantage of this as you multi-task between productivity, gaming, and browsing. With Chrome being notoriously memory-intensive, Microsoft likely sees this as a chance to make its Edge browser a bit more appealing.
A new section on the Settings page could let you control how much RAM Edge can use, you can also choose whether this control is activated only when you are playing a game or always:https://t.co/YiCu5igL0U pic.twitter.com/pE29PI6FfRMarch 27, 2024
That said, limiting the browser to a small amount of memory will undoubtedly have an impact on your experience, so you'll need to actively balance between your number of open tabs and third-party browser extensions.
Gamers are not the only ones who could benefit from this feature, as productivity tools also tend to be memory intensive at times. Like gamers, such users wouldn't want RAM limit enabled all the time, but being able to turn the feature on and off could be appealing.
With Canary and public BETA builds, nothing is set in stone. Either specific functions in a feature, or the feature itself. Microsoft has enabled optimizations and features in the past for Canary builds. Even if this is only currently available for selected users, once the bugs and issues are ironed it will hopefully be available for the public eventually.
Would This Help Gain Edge Gain Its Market Share?
No feature will make users shift to a particular browser immidiately but features such as RAM limiter help. While certain features do eventually get adopted by certain third-party browsers, the time taken to implement it. While there are many stat counters to show the browser's market share, most agree Google Chrome has a large share, with MacOS Safari taking a second spot and Edge taking the third space. Consumer trends change in time and it is simply a matter of time when such dominance begins to fall as many are competing in this space.
Competition is good, and with Microsoft learning a valuable lesson that going the anti-competitive way is counter-productive, we should see all internet browser makers make new optimizations and features for upcoming versions.
