MICROSOFT EDGE FOR WINDOWS DEVICES 1.1. For installation and use of the Software on any non-Windows platform, including but not limited to macOS and Linux, you may install and use one copy of the Software on any device running such non-Windows platform. MICROSOFT EDGE FOR WINDOWS DEVICES. For installation and use of the Software on any non-Windows platform, including but not limited to macOS and Linux, you may. Microsoft Edge for Linux can be installed in two ways, with the simplest approach as downloading and install a.deb or.rpm package directly from the Microsoft Edge Insider site, which will configure your system to receive any future updates automatically. So, bringing Edge over to Linux isn't anything as difficult as, say, bringing on-premise Microsoft Office to Linux. Now, the first beta of Edge on Linux is here. The new release comes ready to run.
Use Microsoft Edge for Linux? If so, you may want to rush off and upgrade to the latest dev release.
The tech giant Microsoft announced the Edge browser on Linux back in 2019, and ever since there have been steady progress in development of the browser for Linux. Even though it’s still in the development phase for Linux, it’s making good progress.
Why? Well you know why since you read the headline first! 😉
Yes, the latest dev builds of Microsoft Edge for Linux supports sign-in and sync using a Microsoft Account. This feature has been missing since Edge’s Linux debut in the autumn of last year. The lack of bookmark and account info sync is the only thing keeping some users from using Edge as their default browser.
See:
Of course, there is a caveat to this news: you can only sign-in and sync using a personal Microsoft Account (sorry to any AAD users out there). If you don’t already have a Microsoft Account you’ll need to sign up for one first.
Microsoft Sync is enabled by default in Edge version 91.0.838.x and later. If you use an older build you may be able to enable the ‘MSA sign-in’ feature on the edge://flags page.
If you don’t enable the MSA sign in experiment or you’re using an older build you will continue to see the “oh no! platform not supported” message when attempting to sign in:
Once done, just launch Edge, click the account button in the main toolbar, sign in with your details, choose what settings you wish to sync, and away you go. The sync (including settings) works between OSes. You can sync your Edge browser on Windows with your Edge browser on Ubuntu, and so on.
Is Microsoft Edge the best web browser for Linux? That’s subjective and not what this article is addressing. Only you can decide what works for you based on your needs, your outlook, and your ideals. Not that these disclaimers are strictly necessity. Chances are no-one is reading a post about Edge if they’re not not into it 💁🏻♂️ — but my point stands: this is news, not a recommendation.
Microsoft Edge Linux Review
That said, I have pitched my tent in the camp that prefers having a choice to not use something over no choice to use it all.
*cough* Adobe *cough*
Microsoft Edge for Linux is now a thing, so in this post we show you how to install the browser on Ubuntu, Linux Mint, and any related Linux distributions.
In guide we show you how to install Microsoft Edge on Ubuntu (or any Ubuntu-based Linux distribution, like Linux Mint) in two ways: graphical (GUI) method, and command line (CLI) method.
It doesn’t matter which method you choose as you will download and install the exact same version of Microsoft’s new-fangled browser. Plus, both methods set things up so that you get future updates as and when they’re released, automatically.
Microsoft Edge is based on Chromium, the open-source browser engine developed (though not exclusively) by Google. Any website, web app, or web service that works in any Chromium-based browser, such as Google Chrome, will work in Edge too.
Even better: you can install Chrome extensions in Edge too (though Microsoft maintains its own extension hub for browser add-ons).
Read our hands on with Edge for Linux development builds for a broader overview on what works, what doesn’t, and what you should keep in mind if you plan to use it otherwise.
How to Install Edge Browser on Ubuntu
Keep in mind that Microsoft Edge for Linux is in developer preview. It is not “stable”. It is not even a beta. Some features (like browser sync) are currently unsupported on Linux. Are there bugs? Yup. Will it crash? Quite possibly!
Please note: this article is about how to install Edge on Ubuntu, not why you should install it. You decide which software you use on your system. And if you don’t want Edge? That’s fine! But you probably won’t be reading a “how to” guide on the topic!
Graphical/GUI way
Installing Edge using a graphical user interface is easy as Microsoft provide official installer packages for Ubuntu and Fedora-based distros. You can use these builds to install the browser on your system using your distribution’s package manager.
1.Go to Microsoft Edge Download Page
In a web browser open the official Microsoft Edge download page. There you’ll find two builds for Linux. Chose the ‘Linux (.deb)’ option for Ubuntu.
2. Download Edge for Linux
Choose to save the .deb package to your Downloads folder (or any other. directory you can access easily). If you’re using Firefox you can check the “Save File” option to do this.
3. Double click on the installer
Let the download complete then use your file manager to find the Edge Linux installer. Finally, double-click on the saved file to start installing and follow the on-screen prompts.
When you install using the official installer the Microsoft Edge repository is added to your system’s list of software sources. You can upgrade to new versions of the browser as they’re released using the regular Software Updater tool.
4. Open Microsoft Edge.
Let the install finish up then open the browser from the Applications grid (or whatever app menu, launcher, etc you use on your system.
Terminal/CLI way
Prefer to install software from the command line? We got you covered. Just copy/paste the following commands in to your terminal emulator of choice.
First: the set-up script. This adds the Microsoft Edge repo to your system, and imports the Microsoft GPG key to authenticate packages (so that you can be sure they are what they say they are):
Second step: run this command to actually install Microsoft Edge:
Once done, launch the browser from your favourite app launcher, or run microsoft-edge-dev from a command prompt.
How to Uninstall Edge
So you installed Edge. Grand. And you try it out. Awesome. But what happens if you want to remove it? Well, it’s easy to uninstall Microsoft Edge using the command line.
Just open a new Terminal window and run:
Microsoft Edge Linux Download
Alternatively you can open the Ubuntu Software app, search for ‘edge’ by name, click the result, and hit the ‘remove’ button.
Simple!
Microsoft Edge Linux Dev
Summary
That’s it; you learned how to install Microsoft Edge browser on Ubuntu, Linux Mint, and other distributions in this article. All that’s left for you to do now is to open the browser up and start surfing the web!
It remains to be seen if Edge will find a big enough audience on Linux to sustain itself. The browser is up against stiff competition from the likes of Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Vivaldi.
While most Linux users will shudder at the thought of using it, I think it’s great to have the choice of using Edge on Linux.
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