It appears that Microsoft has changed its mind regarding implementing mouse gestures in its browser. A recent update to the Edge policies documentation reveals the company's plan to add mouse gestures in Edge 112 and onward. The feature has yet to arrive for testing in the preview channels, but the policy description already provides a brief explanation of what is to come.
Mouse gestures are a popular feature among browser power users. For example, Opera and Vivaldi let you perform various actions by holding the right-click button and swiping in different directions. You can swipe down to close a tab, swipe up to refresh, etc. The feature has a tremendous productivity value and can make interacting with the browser and web pages significantly faster.
Microsoft has been reluctant to add mouse gestures to Edge. A couple of years ago, the company revealed that it has no plans to develop the feature (one of the most requested among Edge users) in its browser, but now we have proof of a total U-turn from Edge developers. Interestingly, the last "Top feedback summary" post for November 2022 still says Microsoft does not plan to implement mouse gestures.
Here is how Microsoft describes the feature in the documentation:
This feature provides an easy way for users to complete tasks like scroll forward or backward, open new tab, refresh page, etc. They can finish a task by pressing and holding the mouse right button to draw certain patterns on a webpage, instead of clicking the buttons or using keyboard shortcuts.
It is great to see Microsoft adding a much-requested productivity feature (it will pair well with the recently announced Split Screen). The browser certainly has some problems with recommended content and questionable UI changes, but it still aims to deliver a great productivity-focused experience.
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