More Edge goodness! Some more details on the big switch for Microsoft Edge are here with us, including what Redmond plans for extensions for its new web browser.
Well, not exactly new, but running a new engine.
Last week was all about Microsoft officially confirming the switch to the Chromium platform for Edge, with the firm all set to swap out the EdgeHTML technology and build its browser using the same codebase that Google uses for Chrome.
It also outlined plans to bring the browser to macOS and older versions of Windows, meaning it will be split from Windows 10 and updated much more frequently from here on.
But a bunch of other questions remained unanswered.
Until Kyle Pflug of Microsoft answered them on Reddit not too long ago.
The biggest news here is that the team intends to support Chrome extensions. This should come as no surprise, of course. But it’s good to have this in writing. This does not mean that all Chrome extensions will be available for Edge, but Redmond will likely curate them for the Microsoft Store.
Just like it does for Edge extensions right now.
Additionally, the software titan also confirmed that existing UWP apps will be able to use EdgeHTML, with the company set to offer a WebView based on Chromium, so the two will set side by side. Developers will have the choice of using what they prefer.
Speaking of apps, the Seattle based company still plans to allow users to download Progressive Web Apps through the browser. Nice to see this continued focus on PWA.
And finally, Pflug also revealed that the new browser is coming to all Microsoft devices, which means that a version of Xbox One is very much in development.
Can’t say the same for Windows Phone, though.
Of course, Microsoft will be focused on some of the features that it already emphasized on Edge, including faster performance, better battery life and touch support. The first preview of the new Chrome powered Edge is coming in early 2019, and we should have more on it then.
Not everyone is happy with this switch to Chromium technology, obviously.
But there is much to be gained here by this change of direction, for Windows users at the very least.
