Update: You can now officially install Microsoft Edge on macOS

UPDATE (21 May): Microsoft has officially released the preview version of its Chromium-based Edge browser for macOS and it's available for download from the Microsoft Edge Insider website now. Mac keyboard shortcuts, and Touch Bar and trackpad support are also in the pipeline.

Last year Microsoft announced huge changes to its Edge web browser, including the fact that it was moving to the open source Chromium engine (which its chief competitor Chrome uses), and the company revealed it would also run on MacBooks and Mac computers.

It now appears that you can download and install and early version of Microsoft Edge for macOS right now.

Microsoft Edge Canary 76.0.151.0 has been spotted online by Twitter user WalkingCat, and while Microsoft hasn’t officially announced it, the download looks legit.

If you want to try it out on your Mac, it’s safe to do so – though remember this is an early version of the web browser that’s used for testing, so expect bugs and unfinished features. If you want a more dependable experience, wait until the final version.

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We’ve already heard about new features coming to the new Chromium-based Edge web browser during Microsoft’s Build 2019 developer conference, so we could hear more about the Mac version of Edge soon.

Returning to Mac

The fact that Microsoft is releasing its Edge web browser on macOS is remarkable for a few reasons. Not only was Edge originally a Windows 10-only browser, but it sees a Microsoft-made web browser available on a Mac for the first time since Internet Explorer - and that was 16 years ago, when Microsoft ceased the updates.

Now, a Microsoft web browser might not be something many Apple users have been clamouring for, but it will offer an alternative Chromium web browser for those who don’t want to trust their data with Google and its Chrome browser.

Making Edge available on a range of platforms is a smart move by Microsoft – as even with the advantage of it coming installed by default in Windows 10, the web browser has struggled to gain users compared to its competitors.

Could Edge find success on macOS where it failed on Windows? Stranger things have happened...