Deleted all data; cookies, cache, the whole #! from Edge. Still after first gate, zero souls on launch. Tried twice with same result.
(Almost off topic: At first I left Edge nearly in the default condition, including the startup page. This results in around 100 cookies as soon as I start the browser! Once I changed the start page to point to my internal server, I was able to check after start and see zero cookies.)[Edit: changing the startup page had no effect on what I would call the home page - MS calls it the new tab page. Seems I can make only cosmetic changes to that. From some reason I'm reluctant to call it adware. Dunno why - that is how it behaves.