Microsoft publishes Edge extensions page and extensions accidentally

Martin Brinkmann
Dec 10, 2015
Updated • Jul 5, 2017
Internet Explorer, Microsoft Edge
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Microsoft Edge is a bare-bones web browser that the company shipped with its Windows 10 operating system, and it seems that previous versions of Windows won't be supported by Edge.

Microsoft removed support for legacy features such as ActiveX or Browser Helper Objects in Edge, and built it around web standards.

Edge performs better than Internet Explorer in nearly any benchmark you throw at it, and while that is a step in the right direction, its poor set of features and settings give users less control over the browser.

Microsoft promised to integrate extensions support in the Edge browser which could improve the situation significantly for users of the browser.

Extensions support was delayed to 2016 however and since Microsoft has been tight-lipped so far in regards to the implementation, little was known what Edge extensions would add to the browser.

A leaked web page, which has been pulled in the meantime, revealed additional information about extensions support in Microsoft Edge.

edge extensions support2
Images created by Twitter user WalkingCat

edge extensions support1

The two pages of the pulled website highlight showed how extensions are integrated into the Edge browser, reveal two sample extensions that will be made available, and how extensions are installed.

Microsoft plans to launch extensions support for Insider Builds of Windows 10 first. According to the "installing an extension" section of the leaked site, extensions need to be installed manually in preview releases of the browser. Microsoft will integrate the process directly into the Edge browser in release versions.

The two extensions highlighted on the page are Reddit Enhancement Suite, a popular browser extension and script to improve Reddit, and a Pin It Button for Pinterest.

To install extensions, Edge users need to download the extension file to their local system. Both sample extensions released by Microsoft come with a setup.cmd file that needs to be run to install the extension in Edge.

This won't work right now however even on the latest Windows Insider build. While you can run the setup file on the system, Edge won't display an Extensions entry just yet in the browser's menu.

edge chrome extension

A quick comparison of the Edge and Chrome version of Reddit Enhancement Suite reveals that both extensions are nearly identical which confirms Microsoft's claim that the porting of Chrome extensions to Edge is a simple process. The majority of extensions should work just fine on Edge once ported but some, for instance those that use Chrome-specific features, won't.

Extensions support could boost the public opinion of Microsoft Edge significantly.

Now You: Are you looking forward to extensions support in Microsoft Edge?

Summary
Microsoft publishes Edge extensions page and extensions accidentally
Article Name
Microsoft publishes Edge extensions page and extensions accidentally
Description
Microsoft published the Microsoft Edge extensions page accidentally today, and with it two browser extensions for Edge.
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Ghacks Technology News
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Comments

  1. Pd said on December 11, 2015 at 7:18 pm
    Reply

    Where do the extension icons go when a user has more than, say, half a dozen extensions installed?

    Not a lot of room in that part of the UI they’ve assigned.

  2. R.L. said on December 11, 2015 at 4:51 pm
    Reply

    I’ve played with Edge a bit, and while it’s certainly more usable than Internet Exploder, it has a long way to go before it will be adopted by more technically adept users. Most of us who spend a lot of time on the web have long abandoned IE in favor of Firefox, Chrome or some other browser. Since the introduction of Chrome in 2008, a vast majority of the casual web users have defected from the IE camp (even my mother knows not to use IE). Microsoft will never enjoy the share of browser use that they had back in 2006 or 2007, and I’d be surprised if Edge ever becomes the browser of choice for even 10% of web users.

  3. Glynn Brooks said on December 11, 2015 at 3:39 pm
    Reply

    I cannot use Edge until it allows the use of RoboForm as an extension. Without that, it is useless to me.

  4. q said on December 10, 2015 at 9:26 pm
    Reply

    I have been dilatory in trying Cyberfox. It would be more important for those of us increasingly disturbed by Mozilla’s management decisions to have the ability to import a FF profile into Cyberfox. Does that exist? And, if so, is it non-problematic?

  5. stealthy said on December 10, 2015 at 2:46 pm
    Reply

    Nice. I hope it won’t take a lot of time to implement extension support. Edge is quite decent browser and I’d probably use it as my 2nd or even main browser when it gets extensions.

    1. Gary D said on December 10, 2015 at 3:55 pm
      Reply

      Edge is an underdeveloped browser. If MS wants it to replace IE, the developers should have put a lot more work into Edge before releasing it. Perhaps it will be usable in mid 2016 ???

      I do not think I will be following the MS lemmings and rushing to download (or fall over the?) Edge.

      I’ll stick with Cyberfox (main) and Chrome (backup) thanks as both have a lot of useful AND usable extensions, which are all auto-installation.
      Using “About:config”, Cyberfox has innumerable built in settings for configuring the browser to the user’s taste.

      1. jasray said on December 10, 2015 at 6:14 pm
        Reply

        I’m a Cyberfox user myself. I like the portable 64bit version, stable and fast. The team developed a super cool profile transfer tool, so I can easily export a Cyberfox profile to a FF installation in seconds with bookmarks, preferences, add-ons, etc, included. Or FF to Cyberfox.

        Edge may be fine at some point. For now, I use Opera for watching online Amazon Prime. I never did like IE, not sure why.

  6. Michael J. Tobias said on December 10, 2015 at 2:43 pm
    Reply

    For a browser called “Edge,” it certainly is nowhere near it.

    1. Bobby Phoenix said on December 10, 2015 at 2:51 pm
      Reply

      Sure it is. It’s on the Edge of usability! Maybe one day it will be useful.

      1. TekWarfare said on December 10, 2015 at 3:14 pm
        Reply

        Hahaha, Brilliant.

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