Competition between the two leading AI chatbots is heating up. Microsoft’s ChatGPT-powered Bing AI — which has previously only been available to users of its proprietary browser — is starting to roll out to more widely-used browsers, Google Chrome and Safari.
As first reported by Windows Latest, you can now access the chatbot from Bing.com in both browsers. With this update, Microsoft also added dark mode, giving users the option to go for a pure black background, as opposed to the dark gray which is often used by Google platforms.
There are some key differences between using Bing Chat on Edge compared to the other two browsers. Users will be limited to 2,000-word prompts as well as a reduced number of turns before the chatbot resets. You’ll also have to put up with pop-ups asking you to download Edge. Is that really a price worth paying?
Bing Chat Still Best on Microsoft Edge
Until now, you could only use Bing Chat on Microsoft Edge, which was obviously inconvenient for the majority of people who prefer Google Chrome. The decision was made by Microsoft to enable Bing Chat to operate on other browsers for that very obvious reason.
In fact, Edge is one of the least used browsers, according to browser market share statistics, Edge takes just 5.13% of users in 2023, compared to that of Chrome which dominated the market (61.80%) and Safari (24.36%), which cleans up when it comes to mobile browsing thanks to being Apple’s default browser.
It’s thought that this move will give a boost to Bing Chat user numbers but there’s a catch. For starters, you’re limited to 2,000-word prompts instead of 4,000-word prompts on Bing Chat on Edge, still a large amount of words by most people’s standards.
How to Enable Dark Mode on Bing Chat
As well as rolling out to different browsers you can now switch to dark mode. If you want to do this, you simply navigate to the hamburger menu in the top-right corner of Bing Chat and then select Appearance > Dark or System Default.
There’s no real benefit to enabling dark mode in relation to Bing Chat, but it’s thought to reduce blue light exposure and help with the eye strain that comes with prolonged screen time. Helpful for those who might use Bing Chat regularly for work.
