Microsoft Edge Users Will Soon Be Able to Use Chrome Extensions
Last updated September 21, 2021
- Microsoft is merging its Edge web browser with the Chromium engine by Google in an upcoming update.
- The move will also allow Chrome extensions to be made available on Microsoft’s browser according to recent reports.
- Edge will continue supporting UWP apps and will not be stopping development of new WebView apps.
Microsoft recently announced that its Edge browser will be moving over to the Chromium platform after years of trying to keep Internet Explorer and Edge relevant in the web browser scene. Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox have been dominating the browser market for years with their host of features and optimization techniques that Edge currently cannot match. With Edge moving over to Google’s platform one of the things we can really look forward to is Chrome extensions!
For Edge users who have not used Chrome, extensions are essentially add-ons that you can plug into your browser for added functionality. While Edge did have its own extensions, Microsoft’s selection paled in comparison to Google’s own. The Chrome web store is constantly growing with a number of extensions being added daily, and it is definitely a feature worth bringing to Edge.
By implementing Chrome extensions in its Edge browser, Microsoft will effectively be addressing one of the biggest drawbacks of its own browser that has been failing for years against the competition. One of the biggest reasons why developers chose to create extensions for Chrome instead of Edge was simply the popularity of Google’s browser. With the extensions becoming available for both browsers, we can expect pretty much all of the functionality to be available on Edge as well.
We do not know how long it will be until Microsoft and Google finish working on the new variant of Edge on the Chromium platform, but work has already begun according to Edge’s project manager Kyle Alden. The upcoming web browser will become the new default browser for Windows 10, and Universal Windows Platform Apps will continue to be available as well. EdgeHTML and Chakra are two of the most popular UWP apps, and Alden has promised new WebView apps will be introduced as well.
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