After a year of testing, Microsoft is pushing the stable version of its Chromium-based web browser to Windows 10 Home and Pro Edition users today. This rendition of Edge is based on the open-source version of Chrome, which means that it supports the exact same apps and extensions from Google’s Web Store.
The look of the browser isn’t anything to write home about, as it could easily be mistaken for Chrome or Firefox, depending on the skin. Microsoft’s Chromium-based Edge does offer unique features, however, such as a “read aloud” function that can narrate website content. There’s also an “immersive reader” feature that trims down page elements (e.g., images and ads) to a bare minimum for a focus on readability.
Windows 10 users who don’t want the new version of Edge can download Microsoft’s Blocker Toolkit, which will disable the browser’s automatic delivery and installation. It’s essentially a script that will create a registry key for blocking the distribution.