Microsoft adds startup boost and sleeping tabs features to Edge browser

Microsoft has added two new features to its Edge browser that should improve performance. Startup boost should speed up browser startup and the sleeping tabs should free up system resources.

The features will appear in version 91 of Edge, which is due out later this week. Startup boost works by running a group of core browser processes in the background when Windows 10 starts up. According to Microsoft, this does not consume more system resources once Edge is running.

Sleeping tabs should improve performance if the user has multiple tabs open. The software then allocates unused tabs fewer system resources to free them up for the browser. Microsoft promises a further improvement by also pausing advertisements to free up memory. Users can specify the time after which the browser should consider tabs as inactive and also exclude sites from sleeping tabs.

Microsoft is announcing the features for Edge at its virtual Build developer conference.