DuckDuckGo's Privacy Browser Enters Open Beta On Windows - Here's How To Try It Out

For most of its existence, DuckDuckGo was mostly known for its privacy-focused search engine, which often made for a great Google alternative. In 2019, seemingly in an effort to shed its image as just a search engine, the company entered the world of mobile browsers by launching iOS and Android versions of a privacy-focused browser. Like with its search engine, privacy was at the core of DuckDuckGo's mobile browser business.

In 2022, DuckDuckGo took one more step in this direction when it released its first-ever privacy-focused browser for desktop computers. Until recently, however, only the macOS version of DuckDuckGo's desktop browser was available for consumers. That changes today, with the company announcing that it is opening up beta testing for the Windows version of the DuckDuckGo browser to members of the general public. Given the sheer number of Windows PCs out there, this move opens up a massive market for the company.

The Windows version of the DuckDuckGo browser gets the same features as its mobile and macOS cousins, and has robust tracking protection features built right in, enabled by default. Given that the DuckDuckGo browser blocks trackers even before they load, this alone contributes to significant data saving. The company claims that their desktop browsers, on average, consume 60% less data than Google Chrome. With features like one-click password and bookmarks import, switching from other popular browsers is also a relatively easy task.

Unlike most other browsers that are built on existing code, DuckDuckGo is claimed to have been built from the ground up using code written by DuckDuckGo's own engineers. For webpage rendering, the browser uses the native operating system API, which in this instance would be Windows WebView 2 — based on the Blink rendering engine.

Among the major features of the DuckDuckGo's Windows browser include a password manager, an ad blocker, and a secure video player.  The company also has a one click "Fire" button that lets users deletes all recent browsing data in a single click. The password manager isn't capable of syncing across other devices yet, but DuckDuckGo is working on bringing this feature in the near future.

Also important to note is the fact that the browser currently does not support extensions. However, the company is attempting to provide common extension-supported capabilities as native features. This includes capable ad-blocking that the company touts as a "privacy-protecting alternative to ad blockers." Besides eliminating ads with dubious trackers, the browser also can remove the whitespace left by ads that were blocked from loading. 

DuckPlayer is a new feature that lets DuckDuckGo Browser users watch YouTube videos without worrying about tracking cookies and the personalized ads that are often a by-product of those cookies. DuckDuckGo for Windows is available for download today, and users interested in checking it out on their PCs can download it right away from the company's website.