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Microsoft announced the official availability of preview versions of the company's Microsoft Edge Chromium web browser for Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 today.

The Chromium-based Microsoft Edge browser uses the same core that Google Chrome and other Chromium-based browsers such as Vivaldi, Opera, or Brave uses.

Microsoft released the browser for its Windows 10 operating system initially but it is now also available for Apple Macintosh devices and now also for Windows 7 and Windows 8.1. A version for Linux distributions has not been released yet.

The official release of the preview versions of Microsoft Edge Chromium is the first version of Microsoft Edge that the company released for its Windows 7 and 8.1 operating systems. When Microsoft released the original Microsoft Edge browser in 2015, it made the browser Windows 10 exclusive.

Microsoft's strategy back then was focused on Windows 10 and feature limitations were one of the methods the company used to get users to upgrade to Windows 10 or select Windows 10 from the get-go.

Downloads are available already on the official Microsoft Edge Insider website. Just visit the website and hit the download button next to the operating system that you want to install the Chromium-based Edge on.

Only the Canary Channel edition is currently available for Windows 7 and 8.1 operating systems. Canary is the cutting edge development version. The Dev Channel version is available for Windows 10 already, and first Beta Channel versions are expected soon.

Microsoft notes that the experience on these older platforms is "largely the same" as on Windows 10 and that features such as the upcoming Internet Explorer mode will become available on Windows 7 and 8.1 devices as well.

The new Microsoft Edge browser differs in some regards from Chrome and other Chromium-based browsers; it comes with a small set of extensions available only for the browser and does a few things better than Google Chrome.

Microsoft has yet to reveal a release date for the final version of the new Microsoft Edge Chromium web browser.

Now You: Did you try the new Edge already? What is your take on the browser?