Microsoft starts to roll out the new Edge on Windows 10 systems

Microsoft released the new Chromium-based Microsoft Edge web browser officially on January 15, 2020. The Edge web browser had to be installed manually up until now on supported systems.

Microsoft did reveal in January 2020 that it had plans to push the new Microsoft Edge browser via Windows Update. The company planned to migrate customers running Windows 10 to the new Edge starting "with a subset of Windows Insiders in the Release Preview ring".

Microsoft has now published a message on the company's Windows Insider Twitter account that confirms that the rollout has started.

Heads-up #WindowsInsiders, we have begun rolling out the new #MicrosoftEdge to the Release Preview ring.

Administrators can find the new Microsoft Edge among the list of updates for the Windows 10 system. It appears that the update KB4541302 is used to deliver the new Edge to these systems.

All Windows 10 systems with the exception of Enterprise and Education systems, systems that have blocked the new Edge installation, and systems the new Edge is installed on already, will receive the new browser automatically via Windows Update.

Microsoft has released a new Chromium-based version of Microsoft Edge. This new version provides best in class compatibility with extensions and websites. Additionally, this new version provides great support for the latest rendering capabilities, modern web applications, and powerful developer tools across all supported OS platforms.

The new Edge will replace the classic version of Microsoft Edge on these systems. Microsoft notes that it is not possible to uninstall the new Edge once it is installed.

Administrators who don't want the new Chromium-based Edge to be installed on devices may set the following Registry value to prevent this from happening:

• Use Windows-R to open a run box. Type regedit.exe and tap on the Enter-key to load the Registry Editor.
• Confirm that UAC prompt.
• Go to  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\EdgeUpdate
• Right-click on EdgeUpdate and select New > Dword (32-bit) Value.
• Name it DoNotUpdateToEdgeWithChromium.
• Set its value to 1 to block Edge.

Delete the key or set its value to 0 to allow the migration to the new Edge.

The roll out of the new Chromium-based Microsoft Edge browser is limited to Release Preview Insider machines initially. Microsoft will enable the update for non-development versions of Windows 10 eventually.

Image credit: DANIEL CONSTANTE / Shutterstock