Chrome extensions to arrive on Microsoft Edge with Microsoft’s new tool
Microsoft brought extensions to Microsoft Edge last week as one of the first features of Redstone builds for Windows 10 Preview. However, only three extensions are currently available to use in Microsoft Edge: Translator, Mouse Gesture, and Reddit Enhancement Suite.
As a part of the plan to bring more extensions to Microsoft Edge, Microsoft will introduce a new tool that will allow developers to port their Google Chrome extensions over to Windows 10’s browser. Microsoft’s Jacob Rossi announced the tool on Twitter a couple of days ago, stating that the while the port is being worked on, it’s not ready yet. Apparently, the tool will be presented to developers as soon as all the APIs are supported.
Lots of questions on this: yes we’re working on a porting tool to run Chrome extensions in Edge. Not yet finished and not all APIs supported
— Jacob Rossi (@jacobrossi) March 18, 2016
Porting extensions from Google Chrome to Microsoft Edge is already quite simple as it requires just a few adjustments in code. With Microsoft’s tool, though, bringing them over should be even simpler.
Windows 10 to support everything
Microsoft is trying to do a few revolutionary things with its latest, and probably final, operating system. One of Microsoft’s biggest plans for Windows 10 is to make it compatible with services, products, and apps from other platforms. For that reason, Microsoft has already announced a few tools similar to this Chrome extension porting tool that will allow developers from other operating systems to deliver their apps and features to Windows 10 easily.
To bring iOS apps to Windows 10, Microsoft has Project Islandwood. To transform Win32 apps into Universal ones, there’s Project Cennential. Now, Microsoft is preparing another tool to bring Chrome extensions to Microsoft Edge. Microsoft also has plans to make it possible for Android app developers to port their apps to its platform with Project Astoria, but that initiative was discontinued.
As for Microsoft Edge itself, the browser is still relatively young and lacks a lot of features present in rival browsers. Fortunately, Microsoft is constantly working on improving its browser and delivering new features like full compatibility with Cortana, so we can say that the introduction and expansion of extensions is only a start.
