Microsoft just blocked Windows 10 users from removing its Google Chrome rival

MICROSOFT has announced a change to its Edge web browser that will prevent Windows 10 users from removing the app to free up space on your hard-drive for a rival browser like, say, Google Chrome. Here’s what you need to know.

Microsoft Edge was rebooted back in January – switching the web browser from Microsoft’s own code to the open-source Chromium codebase that powers industry-leader Google Chrome. That means the overhauled Microsoft Edge is compatible with every website that works with Chrome (which is basically all of them, since Chrome now accounts for a whopping 65 percent of all desktop traffic worldwide), can use every one of the thousands of extensions built for Chrome, and enjoys the same speed and security benefits.

But, why would you pick Microsoft Edge over Google Chrome? Well, Microsoft has improved on Chrome in a number of ways, including better battery life when using Edge on a laptop compared to Chrome, new ways of managing tabs (that impressed Google so much, it nabbed the feature for Chrome), and more.

Microsoft is clearly chuffed with its new Edge browser as it has recently made it the new default browser on Windows 10 installs. But longtime Chrome or Mozilla Firefox users who don’t want anything to do with Edge might be miffed to learn that Microsoft won’t let Windows 10 users remove the Chromium-based Edge from their PCs.

According to a blog post penned by Microsoft, as soon as the transition to the new version of Edge is complete, PC owners will no longer be able to remove the browser from their computers – at least, not using the traditional method. Microsoft wants its new Edge to be ever-present on your laptop, desktop, or tablet.