DuckDuckGo’s web browser is now available for Windows as a public beta, putting private browsing within easy reach for most computer users.

DuckDuckGo is one of the few companies focused on user privacy and choice. The company’s search engine already goes a long way toward providing a safe, private search experience. The DuckDuckGo web browser builds on that, including a number of tools that are designed to minimize or eliminate companies’ ability to track users.

The company announced the public beta in a blog post:

Windows users, this one’s for you! Starting today, our desktop browser for Windows is officially in public beta – no invite codes, no waiting list, just a fast, lightweight browser that makes the Internet less creepy and less cluttered. DuckDuckGo for Windows is already equipped with nearly all the privacy protections and everyday features that users know and trust from our iOS, Mac, and Android browsers – and it’s getting closer to parity with those browsers every day.

The browser supports tracker blocking, encryption, cookie consent pop-up management, email protection, Duck Player to watch YouTube without ads, and the Fire Button to “burn” recent browsing activity with a single click.

DuckDuckGo for Windows was built with your privacy, security, and ease of use in mind. It’s not a “fork” of any other browser code; all the code, from tab and bookmark management to our new tab page to our password manager, is written by our own engineers. For web page rendering, the browser uses the underlying operating system rendering API. (In this case, it’s a Windows WebView2 call that utilizes the Blink rendering engine underneath.)

‌‌Our default privacy protections are stronger than what Chrome and most other browsers offer, and our engineers have spent lots of time addressing any privacy issues specific to WebView2, such as ensuring that crash reports are not sent to Microsoft. (For a more private Windows experience overall, we recommend that you disable optional diagnostic data in Windows under Settings > Privacy & security > Diagnostics & feedback > Send optional diagnostic data.)

The release is good news for Windows users and DuckDuckGo should be a regular part of people’s browsing experience.