Microsoft has been working on a Chromium-based web browser since last year and the finished product, called the Chromium Edge, will be coming out in a stable version in January 2020 and to be bundled with the Windows 10 update for the month. The release is envisioned to dislodge the default Windows web browser.
The switch will mean that the new browser will be faster and likely more acceptable to PC users who prefer browsing tools engineered with the Chromium backbone. The Chromium Edge will attempt to disrupt a market dominated by Google Chrome and other popular tools such as Opera and Vivaldi.
Microsoft has high hopes that with a Chromium-based engineering, the Chromium Edge will make a dent on users that its predecessor has failed to accomplish. Also, the deployment is an admission on the part of the company that its EdgeHTML engine paled in comparison, in terms of popularity and overall performance.
As can be expected, the Chromium Edge will function embedded with Microsoft's services. The browser will initially get released as part of the January 2019 Patch Tuesday deployment but its provider has made clear that succeeding updates will not be integrated with the Windows OS update.
Extreme Tech said updates for the new browser will be issued at regular intervals and likely through the Microsoft Store, where Windows native applications are bumped up in the background.
For those wishing to block the automatic release of the new Edge build, Microsoft has advised getting the blocker toolkit for free. However, the same cannot be used when Chromium Edge is loaded on a machine manually, ZDNet reported.
Microsoft said the new browser is seen to function smoothly in Windows and to ensure this "feature updates will be released on a 6-week cycle (approximately.) Security and compatibility updates will be shipped as needed."
"The next version of Microsoft Edge features more frequent and more flexible updating capabilities. Because browser releases aren't bound to the Windows major releases, changes will be made to the operating system to ensure that the next version of Microsoft Edge fits seamlessly into Windows," the Windows maker was reported as saying.
Users can expect that the Chromium Edge will now behave like Chrome and Opera as it is built on the same base of the latter browsers. But the new Edge will have built-in features that identify the browser as optimal for the Windows environment such as access to Microsoft account and having Bing as the default search engine.
The new browser will also support extensions, has the option to enable tracker blocking, and Dark Theme as a bonus feature.
