Benefits of a multi-process architecture
Every process has a distinct purpose, and there are numerous factors that affect the total number of processes. So why does Microsoft Edge use this multi-process architecture?
Like other modern browsers, Microsoft Edge uses this architecture for better security, reliability, and resource accountability into how the browser is using resources. Microsoft Edge is built on the Chromium project and shares a common implementation with other Chromium browsers.
Enhanced security:
If malware takes advantage of a security weakness in one of the renderer processes, it is difficult for it to escape that process and affect another process.
The renderer process is the process most likely to get attacked because it is the process interacting with the website. This process has low privileges, and extremely restricted access to the operating system, so if malware were to take control of that process, it would be unable to take control of the machine. The communication between the renderer process and the browser process are narrow in scope and protected. It is hard for malware to take advantage of this to exploit the browser process.
Additionally, process isolation prevents one process from accessing another process’s memory, which also improves a browser’s security. Let’s say, for example, that you’re purchasing a shirt online and there’s an ad on the site. The site that you’re on needs access to your credit card information to complete the transaction; however, the ad does not need access to this information. Ads are put in their own process so that even if the ad is compromised, it won’t have easy access to your sensitive information.
Reliability
If a crash occurs on a web page, web app, extension, or plug-in, only the process that experiences the crash will be affected, improving the browser’s reliability. The rest of the browser, including most other tabs, will remain stable.
Resource accountability
Isolating each process makes it easier to see in Task Manager which process is using the most resources, and provides information about what’s contributing to the resource usage. Is Microsoft Edge using the most resources, or is it a website, extension, or plug-in? You can also see this information in Microsoft Edge’s internal task manager, which you can open by pressing Shift+Esc while in Microsoft Edge or by going to the top corner of the browser and selecting Settings and more (…) > More tools > Browser task manager.