Microsoft to release its Chromium-based Edge browser on January 15

Microsoft’s Chromium-based Edge refresh will release early next year with a new logo and more.

The Redmond, Washington-based company is aiming at a January 15th release date with availability across Windows 10, 8 and 7, as well as macOS. Further, the company rolled out a “release candidate” build of the browser that’s available now through the Edge Insider website.

The release candidate should include most of the final work that will make its way into the stable release in January. To access it, you’ll need to download the latest Beta channel release (version 79.0.309.11). That’s the ‘release’ candidate, and any further updates that roll out to the browser going forward are previews of the final stable release. Also, if you’re looking for the new logo Microsoft revealed over the weekend, you won’t find it in the release candidate just yet.

All this comes just months after Microsoft released the beta version of Edge and promised a full release in early 2020. The new release candidate build includes sync support for passwords, history, favourites and settings across Windows, macOS, iOS and Android. Additionally, it includes Microsoft’s built-in tracking protection. It’s enabled by default.

The new Edge also has a strong business focus. It will allow users to search for co-workers, office locations, floor plans and definitions for company acronyms in the address bar. This comes as part of Microsoft Search in Bing, which is built into Edge. However, those who want to use other search engines can change it easily in settings.

Despite the strong business focus, Chromium Edge offers a lot for the average consumer. Aside from the tracking protection, Chromium Edge is snappy fast and has excellent performance (at least on Windows, where I’ve used it). Plus, it has all web compatibility benefits of browsers like Google Chrome.

If you’re interested in trying out the new Edge, you can download it here.

Source: The Verge