Microsoft has announced that the add-ons store is now open for its upcoming Chromium-based Edge browser and developers can begin submitting their own add-ons for approval.
The software giant has been previewing a new version of its Edge browser, which will be powered by the popular Chromium rendering engine, for some time now and Windows 10 users will finally get to try the official version of the browser when it is rolled out via an over-the-air update on January 15, 2020.
Desktop users have been reluctant to make the switch to Edge and have instead continued using either Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox because of the fact that Microsoft's latest browser did not offer support for add-ons at launch. However, this will change with the launch of the Chromium version of Edge and the browser may finally be able to compete with its rivals.
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Edge add-ons
One of the biggest advantages of swapping out the old rendering engine for Chromium in Edge is the fact that its users will soon be able to easily install extensions built for Chrome. To do so, users will just need to open Edge's settings menu, select extensions and then enable the option to allow extensions from other stores.
Google Chrome already has a massive library of extensions available with a large base of developers creating new extensions for the browser. Thankfully, porting these extensions over to Microsoft's add-ons store will not be too difficult as the company says that extensions built for Chromium “will work without any modifications in the new Microsoft Edge”.
Microsoft Edge will likely see a big uptick in users next year as it will be available instantly in Windows 10 and users will finally be able to use the extensions their familiar with on other browsers.
Developers interested in creating an add-on for Microsoft Edge or porting their existing extensions over to the new browser can find out more on Microsoft's site.
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Via The Next Web
