New Microsoft Edge browser arrives on Windows 10 PCs — it's time to ditch Chrome

Microsoft Edge
(Image credit: Microsoft)

The new Chromium-based Edge is, by far, the best browser Microsoft has ever released, and now it is being pushed out to Windows 10 users through an update. 

Whether you want it or not (you should, it's great), Microsoft Edge will now be installed on your Windows 10 laptop once you've updated it via Windows Update. Microsoft officially released the new Edge in January but you had to go to a certain webpage to manually download it. 

Try to forget any poor experiences you've had using the old Edge or IE because the new browser is fantastic. Build on Google's Chromium platform, Edge is now very similar to Chrome. You can even import your Chrome bookmarks, passwords and extensions to Edge in a matter of seconds, and the browser supports extensions from both the Microsoft Store and Chrome Web Store.

I've been using the Edge browser on and off since it was in beta, and there was never a point where I had to switch back to Chrome because of performance problems or missing features. If anything, Edge seems to be less of a resource hog than Chrome. The only major change I've made is switching to Google as my default web browser (Bing is still awful). 

Microsoft has promised a number of new features for Edge in the coming months. History and tab sync will be supported sometime this summer along with vertical tabs, Pinterest integration and a new sidebar search feature.  

As is customary, Microsoft will roll out the Edge browser over the coming weeks, so don't be dismayed if you haven't received it yet. If you can't wait any longer, you can still download it manually from Microsoft's site.

Phillip Tracy

Phillip Tracy is the assistant managing editor at Laptop Mag where he reviews laptops, phones and other gadgets while covering the latest industry news. After graduating with a journalism degree from the University of Texas at Austin, Phillip became a tech reporter at the Daily Dot. There, he wrote reviews for a range of gadgets and covered everything from social media trends to cybersecurity. Prior to that, he wrote for RCR Wireless News covering 5G and IoT. When he's not tinkering with devices, you can find Phillip playing video games, reading, traveling or watching soccer.