Home Technology Microsoft to distribute Edge (Chromium) through updates and how to disable it

Microsoft to distribute Edge (Chromium) through updates and how to disable it

It has just been a few weeks that Microsoft announced its new Edge browser will be ready for download sometime around the beginning of the new year. And now the company has confirmed the new Edge will be part of the Windows 10 update package that is due out in January 2020.

That should be great news for users who are addicted to the Edge browser. To add to their convenience, the new Edge is being based on the Chromium platform that also supports most of the leading browsers, including Chrome and Opera.

Microsoft is also offering a few other incentives to users of the Edge browser, such as access to Microsoft account services, a dark theme as well as tracker blocking options for enhanced privacy. Another huge positive with the new Edge, something that the current version of Edge also benefits from, is its support for extensions.

Microsoft is encouraging developers to submit new extensions to the Edge repository. This goes towards enhancing the functionality of the Edge as the extensions ensure there is a lot more that can be done with the browser than just browsing the net. The Redmond based company is also promising a faster update cycle for the Edge to ensure it remains abreast of the latest security threats and ways to deal with those as well.

While all of these would be a sweet piece of news for loyal Edge users, the problem for Microsoft is there isn’t a sizeable number who swear by the browser at the moment. Rather, it’s the Google Chrome that takes the crown each time and has always been the browser to beat, in spite of all the efforts put in by Microsoft so far.

The company is keen to reverse the situation that is evident from the recent surge in activity surrounding Edge. Also, while the Edge would be delivered as part of the January edition of Windows 10 update, future updates for the browser would be independent of the same for Windows 10.

However, while a Windows 10 update is welcome, many aren’t liking the idea of the same delivering the Edge to their devices, which likely will be followed by constant pestering to use the latest browser for supposedly optimum Windows experience. While that is something that remains to be seen, there sure are ways to delink Edge from the forthcoming Windows 10 update for now.

That requires downloading a Blocker Toolkit executable file from this link.

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The toolkit includes an Executable blocker script which will create a registry key and set its value to 1 to prevent automatic installation of the new Edge browser on devices without the user’s consent.