Microsoft Edge gets new features, Microsoft Teams gets a personal edition

Microsoft made a bunch of announcements today that included new features for its productivity apps including Teams and Chromium-based Edge browser

Microsoft made a bunch of announcements today that included new features for its productivity apps including Teams and Chromium-based Edge browser (Reuters)

Microsoft made a bunch of announcements today that included new features for its productivity apps including Teams and Chromium-based Edge browser. These updates are expected to come soon.

For starters, Microsoft is replacing its Office 365 suite of apps with a new 'Microsoft 365' subscription service. Microsoft 365 Personal and Family plans will go live on April 21 and it will offer access to Office apps, OneDrive storage and more.

What's coming to Edge?

Microsoft's Chromium-based browser Edge is getting some new features like a Collections bookmarking option. Vertical tabs for Edge came as quite a surprise for most since a lot of browsers have experimented with this in the past and this has been seen as a niche feature for advanced users. However, you will have to wait a bit to try this out since it is currently scheduled to roll out to preview channels over the next few months.

Another feature coming to Edge is the Smart Copy. This will help in cases like copy pasting a table from a website without making a mess. With Smart Copy, Edge will be able to preserve the formatting as is on the original point you are copying from. This feature will launch on Edge Insider channels next month.

Edge is also getting a Password Monitor that Microsoft has built from scratch. It is similar to features seen on other browsers and in extensions like Google's Password Checkup. Password Monitor will constantly scan the web to ensure your credentials have not been stolen. The cool feature here is that you won't just get a notification if your credentials are compromised, the notification will take you straight to the respective service's site to change your password.

Collections on Edge is essentially a tool to bookmark related sites, image and even text snippets. It's more ephemeral than bookmarks but more durable than keeping a bunch of tabs open. Collections will be coming to the mobile version of Edge too so users can sync Collections between devices.

Besides this, Microsoft Editor is expanding to Outlook and Microsoft Edge (and Google Chrome) via the Office extension. Microsoft Editor is a Grammarly-like competitor that provides grammar, punctuation and sentence suggestions as you type. The feature is free if you're using a web browser and Office online, with paid enhancements available via the new Microsoft 365 subscription.

What's new on Microsoft Teams?

Microsoft is going to launch a consumer version of Microsoft Teams later this year. If you have not heard of Microsoft Teams, it is a Slack-like text, audio and video chat application. Teams for your personal life will feature a bunch of tools that will make it easier for families and small groups to organise and coordinate events, share information and get on video calls.

Like you can on Outlook, you can switch between work and personal accounts on Team and the personal view will look a little different with shared calendars for family, access to OneDrive vaults, photo sharing etc.