Scrolling is one of the most used features on all browsers, and Microsoft is deploying scrolling improvements in Edge. The main objective is to improve the scrolling speed and the reactivity. If you’ve ever thought that scrolling in Edge isn’t as good as it works with other parts of Windows, this improvement could change that.
Scrolling comments for Microsoft Edge
Based on thousands of comments received from those using the Canarian version of Edge, the comments provide the following details:
- 41% on personality
- 39% on functional problems
- 13% on specific performance issues
- 5% on PDF scrolling
- 2% General comment
Keeping this in mind, the Microsoft Edge team decided to focus their efforts on personality and performance. Once Microsoft can do that, the scrolling experience will be as good as the native Windows 10 experience.
Performance improvements in Microsoft Edge scrolling
Microsoft is working hard to bring more and more features of Microsoft Edge HTML, which were better compared to Chrome. While Edge is based on Chromium, for now, the team finds it best to combine the best of both worlds.
- New animation curve for scrolling
- Percent based scrolling
- Flyover rebound effects on root scroll
- Scroll lock on chaining
- Fling boosting
- Quick Flick removal
Microsoft is also trying to detach functionality related to the operating system because the browser is now available on multiple platforms.
1]New animation curve for scrolling
It improves the animation of the scrolling because it is more tactile and less abrupt when there is a sudden change of speed. You can experience it by using a mouse wheel, keyboard, or scroll bar, or by using touch to go on an adventure.
Note: However, functionality is still being refined on some legacy non-PTP touchpads. Microsoft will announce more in the Insider version.
2]Percent based scrolling
When Microsoft Edge upgraded to the Chromium version, the scrolling values were based on it. Microsoft Team resumes percentage-based scrolling, which uses the scroll height to calculate the scroll delta. This will greatly facilitate navigation in small scrollers.
Chrome-based browsers such as Chrome use 100 pixels per tick of the mouse wheel, 40 pixels per click on the button on the scroll bar or on the arrow on the keyboard.
3]Flyover rebound effects on root scroll
The rubber bands are an effect that represents the end of the page by bouncing the bottom of the page. It is a signal to the user that he has reached the end of a page while scrolling. 71% of users preferred this feature.
Note: Like the new animation curve, it is not enabled for both touch input and PTP touchpad input in Microsoft Edge when scrolling in any direction.
4]Scroll lock on chaining
While scrolling chaining ensures that there are no annoying page breaks when you click or tap something. However, sometimes it causes the page to jump down. Microsoft finds chaining to be rather boring and plans to stick with scroll lock which fixes this problem.
5]Fling boosting
Integrated into the animation curve, the Fling boosting will allow you to scroll at high speed to reach the destination. Many times you almost know where you want to be on the page, and this feature hides that you can read faster there.
6]Quick Flick removal
Think of Quick Flick as a little scrolling boost. Although it was designed to help users scroll quickly, it resulted in large scrolls.
Along with that, the Microsoft Edge team is evaluating the following functionality in future updates.
- Excessive scrolling effect in the sub-scrollers
- Pinch the scroll effect
- More settings for individual personality effects and interactions based on your feedback
We hope the features will arrive in 2-3 months as they are still in the Canaries. You can use the beta version to get early access as it can be installed secretly.