Microsoft Edge for Linux Out of Beta, Now Generally Available

Image: Microsoft

Microsoft announced today that the Chromium-based Edge web browser is now generally available on the Linux platform via the stable channel.

Soon after its official launch on January 15, 2020, the new Microsoft Edge became the second most popular desktop browser after Google Chrome, surpassing Mozilla Firefox in April.

With Microsoft Edge being Chromium-based, it now has the advantage of providing users with access to all Chrome Web Store extensions, as well as compatibility and performance on the same level as Google Chrome.

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Now available as a stable build on Linux

In September 2019, Redmond asked for feedback from Linux users on the release of the Edge browser for Linux to flesh out the requirements needed for an official launch.

One year later, in October, the first preview of Edge for Linux was released with all the basic features and support for Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, and openSUSE distributions.

“Microsoft Edge is now generally available for Linux via stable channel. Edge on Linux was previously only available in preview channels,” Microsoft announced today at the Ignite 2021 virtual conference.

“To celebrate the availability, the Microsoft Edge Surf game has a special, limited-time surprise from the Linux world in the Edge 97 release dev channel, which is accessible by keying in the classic Konami’ cheat’ code.”

With today’s announcement, Microsoft Edge is now available on the most popular platforms, including Windows, Linux, macOS, iOS, and Android.

How to install Edge on Linux

There are two methods to start using Microsoft Edge on Linux: downloading it from the official Edge page or using Redmond’s Linux software repo.

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The more straightforward approach is to download and install a .deb or .rpm package directly from the Microsoft Edge site or the Microsoft Linux packages server, which will also configure your device to receive future automatic updates.

The second method requires you to install Microsoft’s Linux Software Repository using your distribution’s package management tools by following the “Command line installation” instructions on the Microsoft Edge Insider site (deb/rpm).

If you’re experiencing issues installing Edge for Linux, you can uninstall the preview version and then go to www.microsoft.com/edge to download and reinstall.

To uninstall Microsoft Edge, if you’re a Linux user, you need to go through the steps detailed on this support page.