Almost a year after Microsoft announced that it would stop working on its own browser, the US-based tech giant today released the new Edge browser which is based on Chromium. For the uninitiated, Chromium is an open source platform upon which Chrome is also built. The new Edge browser supports all versions of Windows, and macOS.
You can download the browser from here. Keep in mind that downloading the new Edge browser will replace the legacy version of Microsoft Edge on Windows 10 PCs. According to Microsoft, Edge will follow a six-week release cycle. If you are using Windows 10, you can wait for the automatic update to become available, however it may take some time.
Here is how to download it.
- Go to Microsoft’s Edge site to and click on the installer begin download.
- Run the installer. And after it has finished successfully, the Edge’s task bar icon will change to the new logo.
- You can now launch the new Edge which will greet you with a welcome screen and offer you to import data from Chrome/old Edge browser or to start fresh.
- The new browser also allows you to configure the new tabs in terms of look. You can log in with a Microsoft Account to enable sync of passwords, and more.
A few of the interesting features coming to the new Edge browser include built-in tracking security and Collections, which is Microsoft’s take on bookmarking. With Collections, you can bookmark images and other content from the web. Additionally, there will be an Internet Explorer mode for businesses. In terms of functionality, features and user interface, the new Edge browser is similar to Chrome including support for extensions (both from the Chrome Web Store and Microsoft’s own extension database). It also has a reader mode and has the ability to switch profiles.
With the new Edge browser, Microsoft aims to lure users from using Chrome, Firefox to its own Edge as most of us immediately download Chrome when we purchase a new laptop or PC. The new Edge browser is just Google's Chrome but with a Microsoft skin.