Microsoft’s new Chromium-based Edge browser shown in leaked screenshots

Microsoft Edge

New screenshots that apparently show Microsoft’s new Chromium-based Edge web browser have been published online.

The photos, published by Neowin, show a browser that features the icons and general look of previous versions of Edge, which is installed by default in Windows 10, but with certain features that will be familiar to Chrome users.

Microsoft’s Bing search engine remains the default in Edge, unlike Google in Chrome, and when you open a new tab, the background is taken from Bing’s image of the day. 

A personalised news feed from Microsoft News is also shown, so the look of the new Edge isn’t radically different from the previous non-Chromium versions.

The new Edge shows images from Bing (Image credit: Neowin)

The new Edge shows images from Bing (Image credit: Neowin)

This gives users more choice, as the Edge Extensions Store was pretty limited compared to the Chrome Web Store. You should also be able to visit the Chrome Web Store and install any extension

Neowin has also shown off images from the Edge Extensions Store. This is where you can add extensions to the web browser to add features, and as the website points out, the new store has a number of new Chrome extensions that have been retooled for the new Edge.

New Edge

So, according to these screenshots, while the new Chromium Edge won’t look too different from previous versions, there’s a few tweaks and hints that this is a brand new flagship browser for Microsoft. 

In the settings page, there is now a dedication to the Chromium open source project and other software, something you wouldn’t find in previous versions of Edge (and would have been unthinkable in Microsoft software a few years ago).

Neowin has a good selection of screenshots of the new browser, so it’s well worth visiting the page to see how Microsoft’s web browser is shaping up. Hopefully it won’t be too long until we get a chance to try it out for ourselves.

Matt Hanson
Managing Editor, Core Tech

Matt is TechRadar's Managing Editor for Core Tech, looking after computing and mobile technology. Having written for a number of publications such as PC Plus, PC Format, T3 and Linux Format, there's no aspect of technology that Matt isn't passionate about, especially computing and PC gaming. Ever since he got an Amiga A500+ for Christmas in 1991, he's loved using (and playing on) computers, and will talk endlessly about how The Secret of Monkey Island is the best game ever made.