Windows 10 will get floating web search function through Microsoft Edge

If you pay close attention to the development of Windows, you may have heard of “desktop gadgets”, which is a feature that has been introduced in the Windows Vista era. As discovered in the new build, Microsoft is now planning to use its Chromium Edge browser to reproduce a similar experience on Windows 10.

The desktop widget feature was created by Microsoft to enhance the overall user experience of Windows Vista. After the launch of Windows Vista, independent developers also provided a large number of gadgets in the gadget store to add required functions to the Windows desktop.

Since then the feature has been disabled, but it seems that Microsoft has not given up on this idea. Desktop gadgets made a comeback through Microsoft Edge, bringing experimental features such as floating search bar and floating news dashboard. Microsoft plans to add floating desktop widgets to Chromium Edge in the next major update, and initially, it will include three layouts-vertical, dashboard, and search only.

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To get started, you need to start Microsoft Edge (Canary), open the main menu and click “Toolbar”, then select “Web Gadgets”. After clicking this option, a launcher will appear on the screen, enter the search content or the URL of the website you want to open. Click on the correct item from the search results, Edge will immediately start and open the Bing search engine.

In addition to using it to browse Bing and favorite websites, Edge’s search widget can even perform calculations. Thanks to the integration of Bing, the web widget runs in the background, and the shortcut will be automatically pinned to the right side of the display. If you don’t want to use it anymore, you can end the background process of the gadget from the Windows 10 system tray at any time.

The other two widgets-the vertical and the dashboard-follow the same method as the search widget, but they can also access news and weather forecasts, and can show users personalized briefings based on their interests.

As mentioned above, widgets can float on other applications, which means you can access the function at any time by clicking on the icons floating on the desktop or on the application. In addition to floating widgets, Microsoft will also enable Chromium Edge integration in the Windows 10 taskbar search and support improved vertical tabs.

(Via)