Download Chromium-based Microsoft Edge on Windows 10, 8.1 and 7
And the wait is over, Right on schedule today January 15, 2020, Microsoft officially released the stable version of its new Chromium-based Edge for both Windows and macOS. You can download the stable version for Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 7, and macOS directly from microsoft.com/edge in more than 90 languages. Well If you are on Windows 10 you can wait for the automatic update to kick in.
The new Edge is based on the Chromium open source project, an open-source web rendering engine developed by Google, which is also the engine behind Chrome, Opera, Amazon Silk, and many other browsers and that makes new edge similar to Google Chrome in that regard.
Currently, Microsoft has released a new edge 79 (because the company is using Chromium versioning) as stable and the Edge 80 is slated to arrive in early February. And then afterward just like chrome Microsoft takes a six-week cadence for the next stable release.
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Download and Install chromium Edge
If you are running Windows 10 you’ll eventually get it in a future update. The company plans to start rolling out the new Edge in the coming weeks for few devices and made it gradually available on Windows Update and offered to additional devices as data and feedback indicate that users are having a good experience.
Note: When you install a new chromium edge on windows 10 it will replace legacy edge. Any shortcuts you have on the desktop, taskbar, or Start Menu will be updated to the new Edge. And Your favorites, passwords, form fill information, and basic settings will carry over from legacy Edge to new Edge automatically. Also while installing new chromium edge will ask if you want to import settings from chrome or firefox as well.
Well, when you install the new Edge on Windows 7, Windows 8, and macOS, it will work just like installing any other browser. New Edge will not replace whatever you have as the default (whether that’s Internet Explorer, Safari, or a third-party browser). But if you have installed edge on android and iOS devices installing a new chromium edge replaces the old edge automatically.
Installing Edge automatically (Windows 10 only)
Open Settings app using keyboard shortcut Windows + I
Click on Update & Security then Windows Update.
Click the Check for updates button, Windows Update should download and install the new version of Edge automatically once it’s available for your device.
Installing Edge manually
If the Chromium version of Edge isn’t available through Windows Update don’t worry you can install it manually following the steps below.
Note- The following steps listed here are also applicable to Windows 10, 8.1, and 7 as well.
Open the chromium Microsoft Edge download website.
Click download for Windows 10, 8.1, or 7 button
Click the Accept and Download button
Double-click the file to launch the wizard and install Microsoft Edge Chromium.
Once you complete the steps, the new Edge browser will install replacing the legacy version.
Click the Get started button.
Select the new tab experience:
Inspirational: Sets background image on a page that includes a search box and quick access to your most frequent websites.
Informational: Sets a background image on the page with a search box, and you get access to the latest news headlines curated by Microsoft News.
Focused: This option is similar to the “Inspirational” but without the background image.
Follow on-screen instructions to Customize the sync settings option and select the items you wish to sync And finally, you will get the new chromium edge.
New chromium edge features
The new chromium edge browser also comes with several new features as well. Here are some of the exciting features introduced on the new edge browser for windows 10.
Tracking prevention
Talking about features latest Microsoft Edge version 79 comes with new privacy-focused features such as tracking prevention, which is enabled by default to limit tracking through ads and cookies. You can manage this setting from the Edge -> settings -> privacy and services section.
Custome page layout
Also, there is a new tab page layout that lets users choose which types of news they want to be seen on their new tab screen. You can manage the same using setting or from settings -> New tab page then select focused, inspirational, informational or customize your setting. Here also you can adjust the content language as well.
Install Chrome extensions
The new edge is based on the Chromium project (open-source platform) it also means that the new Microsoft Edge is now compatible with many features available for Google Chrome users, including extensions. Yes, now you can use chrome extensions on the edge browser well.
Microsoft Edge has its own store to download extensions but you can also install an extension that is designed for chrome and available on the chrome web store. But before this, you need to enable the option to install extensions from other stores from the “Extensions” settings.
Similar to the legacy version of the Edge browser, the new version includes a dark theme option. And within the “Appearance” settings you can switch between the light or dark mode. And select the “System default” option, which allows Edge to switch theme colors when you change the color scheme of Windows 10 using the Settings app.
Further, Microsoft has provided AAD support, Internet Explorer mode, 4K Web streaming, Dolby audio, inking in PDF, support for Chrome-based extensions, and Microsoft Search in Bing integration among various others.
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