Microsoft Edge Finally Gets Support For Extensions
Today Microsoft launched a new Windows 10 preview for PCs and phones, with a big focus on Microsoft Edge. Finally, The Company’s new browser has received extension support, but only on PCs. Not many are available right now, but we believe it’s a good start. However given that different browsers are made differently, just because one extension works for one browser doesn’t mean that it will work for another.
We cannot say that when the next Windows 10 update will be released, however, it has been estimated that it might be arriving in June so we guess Windows 10 users will have to wait few months before they can see extension support in Edge.
Microsoft is planning to add many more extensions to the Edge lineup in the upcoming months, and just like previously announced, it needs all Google Chrome extensions to work on its browser with practically no modifications.
It have already been confirmed that the first Edge extensions work in Google Chrome with only small changes, but actually, the plan is to make them fully compatible the other way around.
According to Microsoft Once the browser is released to the public, the extensions will be available through the Windows Store but right now user needs to install it manually. At launch, three extensions are available: Mouse Gestures, Microsoft Translator, and Reddit Enhancement Suite. Microsoft declared more are on the way, one of them being AdBlock Plus.
And Jacob Rossi, a Microsoft Edge engineer, explained on Twitter that
“the team is already working on an application that would allow for easy porting of Google Chrome extensions to the default Windows 10 browser. The app is not ready just yet, but should be in the near future – no deadline has been provided through”.
According to Rossi “Lots of questions on this: yes we're working on a porting tool to run Chrome extensions in Edge. Not yet finished and not all APIs supported,”
Microsoft also made it easy for developers to port their Chrome extensions over to Edge. Developers can manually load extensions into Edge by following these steps:
- Download an extension.
- Select “Run” from the download notification.
- Select “More (…)” and then “Extensions.”
- Select “Load extension,” choose the extension folder, then “Select folder.”
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