Edge Extension Development May be Too Easy

Very late last night, Twitter account holder WalkingCat (@h0x0d) unearthed an accidental live posting of Microsoft’s (by Microsoft) work on the upcoming extensions for Microsoft Edge. The page has since been removed (shows “Web App – Unavailable” https://msedgeissuetracker-extensions.azurewebsites.net/extensions/), but here’s a peek at a Pinterest and Reddit extension that could be ready for consumption when extension support goes live:

After sifting through the extension code, WalkingCat also found that Chrome extensions are just shy of being Edge extensions:

If it’s that easy, we could expect a slew of Edge extensions fairly quickly once available.

One of the biggest customer asks for Microsoft’s new web browser is the ability to use extensions to enhance how the browser operates and to quickly add new functionality without a major upgrade. Microsoft has been promising that from the start of the Edge project, but missed the two target dates, July and November. July, of course, was the first major release of Windows 10, and the November update represented the OS version’s first big upgrade since launch.

There’s been very little new information about Edge extensions recently, and the Edge browser has taken a lot of guff from Windows 10 users. Edge often seems like a half-baked afterthought and not a real product, exhibiting bugs, errors, freezes, etc., constantly. Many have moved on, reinstalling Chrome or Firefox and sticking Edge into a dusty corner. Delivering extension support for Edge might give Windows 10 users enough to fire it up and test it again.

There’s still been no hard date given for release.