Five months have passed since Microsoft launched its Chromium-based browser “Microsoft Edge” for GNU Linux users, and although the company used to update it frequently every week on all platforms, these updates did not carry anything new for Linux users over the past months.
When Microsoft first introduced its browser to Linux users, it said that some features would not be present in the browser at the time of its launch, and this is somewhat acceptable For being importing some features to a new platform may take some time But at least the company should, I think, bring some important features that make impossible to use Edge on Linux as the default browser, before the company working to launch a version that supports Apple's silicon chips for example.
This may be explained by the fact that Microsoft does not care much about Linux even though it says it loves Linux.
This can be explained by the fact that Microsoft does not care much about Linux, even though it says it loves Linux, as proof, there is an issue with some extensions on Microsoft Edge for Linux that causes them to crash immediately after installation and then be disabling, it has been in the browser for months now, and this problem has not been fixed yet, although it affects an official Microsoft extension as well, which is the "Microsoft Editor" extension, however, Microsoft doesn't seem in a hurry to fix it.
The sync feature, which allows users to sync browser data (bookmarks, history, passwords ...) across their devices, is one of the key features missing from Edge for Linux since its launch which makes the browser nearly unusable, forcing users to use an additional browser as default, but fortunately, that has changed now.
In the recent Microsoft Edge update for the Dev channel (Build 91.0.831.1), Microsoft has finally added the sync feature for Linux users. This feature is disabled by default, and users need to enable it manually from the “Experiments” page.
To do that, just type edge://flags on the address bar and hit Enter, then search for the “MSA sign-in” experiment and enable it, then restart your browser.
After that, select the profile image in the browser taskbar, and select Sign in on the profile, enter your personal Microsoft account login and password and select “Sync” when you are asked if you want to sync your profile. This syncs your favorites, passwords, and other browsing data across the devices you use with this account. The Sync process will take a few moments, and If you click on your profile image, the sync status is displayed.
But hey, you talk about Linux, who cares about a closed source browser from a company that has been fighting Linux for years and calling it a "cancer"?. Well, I think it is better if there is a choice available, even if no one is using it than that there is no choice in the first place, In addition to that Edge is a good alternative to the Google Chrome browser, It’s free from any Google's services that may be used to track or store your online activities, it offers better performance and features, and the web progressive apps (WPA) are looks more native when they run on Edge. It is a great alternative for those who want to use a Chromium-based browser independent of Google. I'm not saying you should use Microsoft Edge or telling you that it is the best browser on Linux, the best browser for you is the one that meets your needs, Whatever its name or the company (or organization) behind it.
