After the installer leaked a couple of weeks ago, Microsoft has just announced that the Beta Channel for its new Edge Insider browser is now officially available on Windows and macOS. This version of the new web browser will be updated every six weeks, and those of you who install it today will have access to dark theme, tracking prevention (currently hidden in flags), as well as the Internet Explorer mode.
“While still in the preview stage, with this announcement the next version of Microsoft Edge is ready for everyday use,” emphasized Joe Belfiore, Corporate Vice President, Windows. The exec also announced today that preview builds of Microsoft Edge have already been downloaded more than one million times, and the Edge team has also received have received over 140,000 individual pieces of feedback since launch.
Now that Microsoft Edge is leveraging the Chromium open source project, Microsoft is willing to make a difference and help improving all Chromium-based browsers. “To date, we’ve contributed more than 1,000 commits to the Chromium project, and we look forward to continuing our active engagement with the community in the shared pursuit of making the web better for everyone,“ said Belfiore.
Last but not least, Microsoft is extending today its Microsoft Edge browser security bounty program to the Beta and Dev channels, with up to US$15,000 rewards for researchers who discover security vulnerabilities. Even though the Beta channel will be on a six weeks release cycle, this version of the web browser will still receive minor updates to fix bugs and security issues when they surface.
Microsoft Edge Beta can be downloaded from Microsoft’s Edge Insider website (https://www.microsoftedgeinsider.com/en-us/download/), and you can install it alongside the Dev and Canary channels. In addition to Windows 10 and macOS, it’s also available for Windows 7, 8, and 8.1.
