Microsoft Edge users will be pleased to see significant changes coming to the browser in the near future.

The patch notes for Edge Dev build 88.0.705.9 (via OnMSFT) detail what Microsoft has introduced in this version. While none of this is a guarantee that I or any user will move to a stable version for use, the presence of these features is an encouraging sign that we will eventually be able to try them out for ourselves.

If you are not already using a password manager, Edge will do the work for you; Edge will generate the passwords you use and allow you to copy and edit stored passwords. This will increase the security of your various accounts on the web.

It seems unlikely that I will ever use Edge on a MacOS device, but if I do, I can now use picture-in-picture mode. As expected, when playing YouTube videos and other video content, it can now be set to pop up in front of another window during playback; Microsoft's blog post mentions that PIP "will be supported on other devices (at a later date). but at least in the Windows 10 version of Edge, this feature has already been put into practice.

Another improvement is a change to the History menu, where recently closed tabs can now be accessed from a button near the search bar. This menu can also be pinned as a side pane for easy access, much like Edge's "Favorites" menu. There are also a number of smaller improvements that make Edge more pleasant to use. For example, the ability to add text notes to PDF files, a useful markup feature, is now available for non-Windows users.

As mentioned earlier, it will be some time before these Edge Dev features are included in the standard Edge apps that consumers use. If you want to try them out now, you will need to join the Microsoft Edge Insider program. This program provides weekly updates with the latest features.