Microsoft added extensions support for Edge browser with Windows 10 Anniversary Update. It has been one-year and the browser has only 70 extensions. It is an extremely low number when you’ll compare it with Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox. Microsoft has however explained that the low figure is not because the developers aren’t interested. According to Microsoft, the company allows only high-quality and trustworthy extensions for its Edge browser.
As a result, Microsoft Edge has only 70 extensions and this is not going to change anytime soon as Microsoft’s first priority is user’s experience and security. The company is actually “building a thoughtfully curated ecosystem”.
Microsoft believes that it is necessary to deliver a quality experience to users. Microsoft Edge team checks all extensions to make that new extension don’t impact performance or security of the browser in any way.
“We are extremely sensitive to the potential impact of extensions on your browsing experience and want to make sure that the extensions we do allow are high-quality and trustworthy. We want Microsoft Edge to be your favorite browser, with the fundamentals you expect – speed, power efficiency, reliability, security. Poorly written or even malicious add-ons for browsers remain a potential source of privacy, security, reliability and performance issues, even today. We want users to be confident that they can trust extensions in Microsoft to operate as expected. As such, we continue to evaluate each extension submission to ensure that it will bring value to our users and support our goals for a healthy ecosystem,” Colleen Williams, Senior Program Manager, Microsoft Edge explains.
Microsoft is also thankful to the Windows Insider Program as it has helped the company to improve the reliability of the browser and as well as the extensions. Microsoft will continue to launch new extensions and test them with Windows Insiders before the public release to the Windows Store.
“As this list grows, we will continue to preview new functionality and experimental extensions starting with Windows Insiders for testing and feedback, followed by a broader release via the Windows Store, to ensure the quality of the end-to-end experience,” Williams writes.
Microsoft Edge extension list is growing, Grammarly also launched its extension for the browser. Other popular extension includes Microsoft Translator, Password Managers and Enhancer for YouTube is also a good extension.