DuckDuckGo, the privacy-focused tech company perhaps best known for its search engine, has now launched its browser for Windows users. This rollout comes nine months after the browser was first introduced for Mac users.
The browser, which is now available in open beta, has several of the privacy features that characterize its iOS, Mac and Android versions. Users can import passwords and bookmarks from other browsers or password managers when they start using DuckDuckGo for Windows. Although the browser does not yet support extensions, DuckDuckGo plans to add it in the future.
“DuckDuckGo for Windows is equipped with our privacy-protecting alternative to ad blockers: the browser blocks invasive trackers before they load, effectively eliminating ads that rely on that creepy tracking,” the company wrote in a blog post.
The browser additionally includes Duck Player, a built-in video player that protects users from tracking cookies and personalized ads while watching YouTube. YouTube still logs video views, so it’s not completely anonymous, but none of the videos you watch in Duck Player contribute to your personalized recommendations or your YouTube ad profile. The feature can be constantly enabled, or you can choose to enable it for individual videos.
The browser can automatically skip pop-ups for cookie settings and consent by selecting the highest privacy settings for the user. It also blocks third-party cookies and trackers that collect and sell user data.
On top of that, the browser offers encryption to ensure more websites and their links are encrypted compared to other browsers, as well as a Fire button that can delete the latest browser data at the touch of a button.
DuckDuckGo says it is working to make the Windows browser equal to the Mac version, including improvements such as faster startup, the ability to pin tabs, importing HTML bookmarks, more options for the Fire button, and additional privacy features.
Finally, there is also an email protection feature that allows users to hide their email by using a unique “@duck.com” address instead, for example when registering online.
The launch comes at the same time as DuckDuckGo recently announced the beta launch of an AI-powered summarization feature, called DuckAssist, which can provide direct answers to straightforward search queries for users. The feature leverages natural language technology from OpenAI and Anthropic, an AI startup founded by former OpenAI employees, to power its natural language summarization capabilities.
