Microsoft begins blocking ‘unwanted applications' like adware, using Edge

The new anti-PUA feature must be manually toggled on, however.

- MARK HACHMAN

Beginning with the current version of Microsoft Edge, Microsoft will start blocking adware, Bitcoin miners, and other unwanted apps that sometimes accompany apps that users download from the web.

Microsoft Edge version 80 contains a new Settings menu with the option to Block Potentially Unwanted Apps, which works in conjunction with Windows’ Microsoft Defender SmartScreen to detect and warn against what Microsoft calls PUAs, or Potentially Unwanted Apps. (Microsoft has listed what it considers to be common PUAs here— go.pcworld.com/ puas.)