14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft launched a new Windows 10 Redstone build for users participating in the Windows Insider program that finally brings support for browser extensions in Edge, but for the moment this new feature is limited to just 3 add-ons.
Obviously, Microsoft’s planning to add many more extensions to the Edge lineup in the coming months, and just like previously announced, it wants all Google Chrome extensions to work on its browser with little to no modifications.
It has already been demonstrated that the first Edge extensions work in Google Chrome with only small tweaks, but the plan is actually to make them fully compatible the other way around.
Carefully selected browser extensions
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 though.
“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,” he explained.
Furthermore, Rossi revealed that all extensions would be published in the store, but at first they would “be carefully selected” and “cover top scenarios and API coverage.” This means that the company is trying to make sure that all extensions work smoothly in Microsoft Edge, without any compatibility issues.
Microsoft will discuss Edge extensions in detail at the BUILD developer conference later this month, with the company planning to release them publicly to users in the Redstone update for Windows 10 coming this month. The three-month gap between BUILD and the launch of Redstone should be enough for the top extensions to arrive on Windows 10 and Microsoft says that it’s already working with partners to make sure this is happening.
@jacobrossi extn's in Store will at first be a carefully selected set covering top scenarios and API coverage, opening up to more in future — Jacob Rossi (@jacobrossi) March 18, 2016