Microsoft today announced the first stable launch of its Edge browser built on the Google Chromium open source project. Microsoft Edge can be downloaded on both Windows machines and Macs.

A beta version of the Microsoft Edge browser has been available for several months ahead of the official, stable launch.

Microsoft's aim with the Edge browser is to provide better web compatibility with improved performance for customers while also making sure there's less fragmentation of the web for developers.

Edge for Mac has been designed to be similar to the Edge experience on Windows, but Microsoft has added optimizations to make it feel more Mac-like. Extensions can be added from the Microsoft Addons store or other Chromium-based web stores like the Chrome Web Store.

The browser includes tracking prevention (enabled by default), customization options, built-in search capabilities with Bing, an Internet Explorer mode for viewing older web pages, and a new wave-style logo that replaces the traditional "e" that past Microsoft browsers have used.

For Mac users who plan to use Edge, the browser is available cross platform and can be downloaded on Mac, Windows, and iOS devices with the Edge iOS app.

Microsoft is planning regular updates for the Edge browser, with Canary, Dev, and Beta updates on a daily, weekly, and multi-week basis. The next stable version of Edge will see an update sometime in February.