Microsoft Explains Why Edge Has So Few Extensions (betanews.com) 152
Mark Wilson writes: It's now a little more than a year since Microsoft first brought extensions to Edge. After so long you would expect the selection of addons to be overwhelming -- but that's far from being the case. In all, there are only 70-odd Edge extensions available, and Microsoft has been moved to explain why.
In a blog post, the company almost apologetically explains that it is "building a thoughtfully curated ecosystem," citing concern over quality and a fear of diminishing the user experience. What some might describe as "slow," Microsoft refers to as a "purposefully metered approach" to new extensions, and you probably shouldn't expect things to speed up a great deal any time soon.
Colleen Williams, senior program manager for Microsoft Edge, says "We want Microsoft Edge to be your favorite browser, with the fundamentals you expect -- speed, power efficiency, reliability, security." She also adds that "Astute observers of our release notes and active testers in the Insider program may have noticed that some preview builds break extensions temporarily."
In a blog post, the company almost apologetically explains that it is "building a thoughtfully curated ecosystem," citing concern over quality and a fear of diminishing the user experience. What some might describe as "slow," Microsoft refers to as a "purposefully metered approach" to new extensions, and you probably shouldn't expect things to speed up a great deal any time soon.
Colleen Williams, senior program manager for Microsoft Edge, says "We want Microsoft Edge to be your favorite browser, with the fundamentals you expect -- speed, power efficiency, reliability, security." She also adds that "Astute observers of our release notes and active testers in the Insider program may have noticed that some preview builds break extensions temporarily."
Sigh. (Score:5, Funny)
Because they know that all it needs is one plugin, that replaces any web page you visit with a big "DOWNLOAD ANOTHER BROWSER" button that lets you grab Vivaldi, or Chrome/Chromium, or Firefox/IceWeasel, or whatever else.
Re: Sigh. (Score:1, Funny)
What the fuck is cortana? Sounds like some sort of butthole disorder.
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What the fuck is cortana? Sounds like some sort of butthole disorder.
Seems like an accurate description
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Don't know if I should treat this as a bad troll or an insane idiot.
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What the fuck is cortana? Sounds like some sort of butthole disorder.
It's a cream or ointment you can get for itching and hives. Usually comes in .5% and 1% strengths.
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The only other path to browser extensions is profit, but theres no money in it because the market share is so low that it is essentially unmonetizable. Its the same basic problem that Microsoft had in mobile. The products are just fine, it's the company people don't trust. The only people who still like/trust Microsoft are those that are still ignorant of the real alternatives.
It's actually a money-losing proposition. You have to pay Microsoft to be an official developer and publish your free Edge browser extension, not unlike Apple and Safari. To me, that's offensive -- so I only publish my browser extensions for Firefox and Chrome, even though they would run fine on Safari and Edge.
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And Cortana not being possible to turn off is a good reason to NOT use Edge.
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People say Chrome's market share growth is because of Google pushing it everywhere they can. Well, Microsoft is pushing Edge hard - Cortana only uses Edge, and they've made Cortana harder to turn off now, etc etc - and yet Edge gets no love. Almost feel sorry for Microsoft, they must wonder what they're doing wrong.
The reason that Chrome is popular is that it isn't crappy. Even better when coupled with a chromebook. My Chromebook has had zero problems during a time when Windows has suffered many.
And please Microsoft fans, spare that tired old meme about Google tracking you. Because Win10 is giving Microsoft the keys to your kingdom, you're information has already been compromised anyhow, and people are just waking up to th efact that the internet is to security like screendoors are to a submarine.
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Edge isn't crappy. (The first release kind of was, but it has received many updates since then.) It just isn't quite as good as Chrome or Firefox. There is no compelling reason to switch to it, so people don't. To get people to switch Microsoft will have to make it BETTER than Chrome and Firefox, which is a challenge because those people have been working on their browsers for many years, and because we're getting to the Good Enough point where further improvements don't matter much.
Internet Explorer is cra
Microsoft, please port Edge to Linux and macOS! (Score:2, Interesting)
Microsoft, please port Edge to Linux and macOS!
With Firefox having essentially destroyed itself, and with Firefox 57 breaking nearly all of my extensions, I'm in the market for a new browser. I prefer to use the same browser on all the systems I use, so it has to support Linux and macOS.
I refuse to use Pale Moon after how its development team treated Pale Moon's users so awfully during the AdNauseam extension blocking disaster [palemoon.org]. Pale Moon doesn't even exist now, as far as I'm concerned.
I also don't want to u
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You're probably too young to remember this, or maybe they didn't have computers in Canada back then, but Internet Explorer used to run on classic Mac OS and Mac OS X [wikipedia.org]. And Internet Explorer used to run on Solaris and HP-UX [wikipedia.org], too. So Microsoft porting its web browsers to Mac and UNIX platforms isn't without precedent.
Maybe you're also ill-informed about how Microsoft has released .NET Core and has ported it to Linux and macOS. And maybe you're also ill-informed about how Microsoft's Visual Studio Core product
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Because Microsoft is trying to use Edge as a tool to get people to upgrade to Windows 10. Their initial hope was that EVERYBODY would upgrade, which would decrease their support burden substantially.
I have upgraded all but one of my Windows 7 systems to Windows 10. The holdout is the Media Center system, because Microsoft has chosen not to make that available for Windows 10. I'm not sure what I'll do with that system after 2020; there is not yet a replacement for Media Center's DVR capabilities that I am ha
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What's wrong with Opera? I'm using Opera on Linux with no trouble.
Re: Microsoft, please port Edge to Linux and macOS (Score:1)
Opera Software was acquired by some Chinese partnership, last I'd heard. That makes a lot of people uncomfortable about using Opera's products.
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It makes a lot of people more confident about using Opera's product.
No NSA backdoors. I hope. I'll just make sure to use Firefox for my planning to overthrow the Chinese state and Opera for planing to overthrow the USA by campaigning for Trump2020.
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Opera is owned by a dodgy Chinese company now.
Use it at your own risk.
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What's wrong with Opera?
It's essentially Chrome. If Chrome is a browser that sits well with you, then nothing's wrong with Opera, although I'd wonder why not just use Chrome.
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It doesn't have the memory leaks that Chromium did last time. I'll try Chromium again and see if it's more stable.
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Oh, give it up already and use Emacs.
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Lynx is always an option.
Or you can use something based on curl or wget.
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Have you tried using Edge in Windows 10 in VirtualBox in GNU/Linux or macOS?
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If Anonymous Coward #55287393 is unwilling to pay $120 for Edge, then he or she really doesn't want Edge that badly.
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It way more likely that MS will create their own Linux Distro first.
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I've been testing the Firefox beta and I have to say -- once NoScript is available for it (and assuming that it didn't have to lose any important functionality for the port), then I'll stay with Firefox.
However, after testing a bunch of alternatives, I think I've settled on the one that works best for me, should I need it: Waterfox.
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Better explanation: (Score:5, Insightful)
The API is a massive security hole and can tank the entire browser with ease so they will only allow large companies that they can fight in court to make extensions.
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You underestimate the ability for new bugs in new generations of developers.
Doesn't explain Windows Store, though... (Score:2)
Hello,
It is interesting how concerned Microsoft is about "building a thoughtfully curated ecosystem" with browser extensions that are "high-quality and trustworthy" for Microsoft Edge, while at the same time, its Windows Store offers many poor-quality mobile apps bordering on the scammy (fake browsers meant to look like Google Chrome, pirated copies of books, etc.) for years.
Of course, Microsoft collects a percentage of sales from Store apps, so maybe it was more to their incentive to have it filled with th
Re: Doesn't explain Windows Store, though... (Score:1)
fake browsers meant to look like Google Chrome
I'm pretty sure that Firefox is intended to be a real browser, even if it does a bad job at it.
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I suppose people think Chrome is a browser and not Google right on your system spying.
I suppose that no other software spies on you. If you are using W10, the idea that Chrome is a privacy issue is kinda funny.
There is no, has been no, and never will be privacy on the internet anyhow., and if you haven't been compromised already, it is just luck. Don't go for the tor meme either, which use just makes you extremely interesting to some folks.
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"You have zero privacy anyway, get over it." Scott McNealy (then CEO of Sun Microsystems), 1998.
Pretty much hasn't changed either. If you are on the interwebs, it can be determined who you are. It all depends on how badly someone wants to find you, because it can take an effort. But they even found the Silk Road dude. They make a big deal out of the gumshoe part where they swooped in on him live to snatch his laptop, but they already knew who he was, where he was, and just needed the physical evidence.
tl;dr version, if you want to do crime, don't do it on the internet.
Re: Doesn't explain Windows Store, though... (Score:2)
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I love the whole Peewee Herman "I meant to do that" apologetic being pedaled by Redmond and its shills. Anything but admit that the majority of Windows 10 users view Edge as nothing more than the Chrome download app.
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I purposefully use the Chrome browser as little as possible. Because I don't want to contribute to the creation of the next big web monopoly. We've learned from Microsoft's past not to use the biggest thing every time.
Re:Edge is fine without a ton of extensions (Score:4, Insightful)
Give it a rest already. They're all spying on us.
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Who cares if browser X is 2 ms faster that browser Y. They killed the adaptability in FF 57, that's why it is going to fail completely now. But what can you expect from a bunch of "the user should want it the way we do it" SJW's who fire people for their political views?
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The problem with the new Firefox is all plugins no longer working.
Edge is wanting (Score:2)
"We want Microsoft Edge to be your favorite browser"
I'm reminded of a saying about wanting in one hand, and shitting in the other...
How about they explain why... (Score:4, Insightful)
I try using it, just to give it a chance but there's no way to organize bookmarks easily, it has constant problems on popular sites like Flickr and it's hard as hell it find the settings you want to tweak it to something comfortable for your use.
It's like Microsoft made a browser for speed but then forgot that people need to be able to USE it too!
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Does Edge support drag & drop already? It didn't when last I cared to check about a year ago.
All other browsers support it... including older versions of Internet Explorer!
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I'm not asking for much. We're talking 2-3 common, expected features.
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Actually, Microsoft will pay *you* to search with bing via their Rewards program.
Or maybe (Score:4, Insightful)
There are no users so extension writers don't give a damn? It explains why a lot of Firefox extensions are rotting away too.
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The writer for the FF extension I use just updated his.
Congratulations. I'm blowing one of those party whistles for you. Edge also has an extension. What's your point?
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Don't need plugins (Score:1)
Who needs plugins when you've got telemetry?
microsoft (Score:1)
they have a long history of having addon capability. no one produces such addons. the most addons that ever appear for Microsoft products include adware, spyware, Trojans, viruses, etc. I've seen this happen to generations of Microsoft products: IE, WMP, etc.
something about the community of developers, they suck, and go for other solutions instead such as foobar2000, Winamp, Firefox, etc.
I'm surprised to see 70+ addons for a Microsoft product. O_O
https://www.trumpsweapon.com/ [trumpsweapon.com]
Edge is horrible Microsoft SHIT (Score:5, Insightful)
Microsoft, you are assholes. You are assholes to the users and you are assholes to web developers. For years, when Internet Explorer was the dominant browser, you had numerous little gimmicks in your 'interpretation' of web standards that made pages appear broken unless developers went out of their way to support Internet Explorer specifically. Now that Internet Explorer is only a relic for corporate IT to continue using outdated software (and thus not doing their job), you create an entirely new browser that fucks the user even harder.
That browser is called Edge. It is the most worthless browser ever created. It looks like it renders about 50% of web pages in some kind of usable form - but even the intended 'usable' form is a nightmare in UI. Because a few people use Windows 10 as a tablet, you make it work like that for 100% of people. The reason there are no Edge plugins is because there are no Edge users. The only Edge users left are the dumb ones that don't even know they can search 'Chrome', 'Firefox', or 'Opera' and instantly start having a better computing experience. Edge is a half-finished smoldering pile of garbage that makes the user feel like he or she is being controlled.
Chrome and Firefox won't run on Windows 10 S (Score:3)
and that is MS hope to make edge get users. Just wait for the EU smack down on that.
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they must use the edge browser engine per app store rules.
Edge is a Utility (Score:1)
More like nobody cares (Score:3)
Seriously, who cares about Edge? If you write a Chrome plugin, it runs on Chrome and a lot of other browsers using the same engine (Vivaldi, for example). And you are not tied to one platform (Windows) either. Even learning how to write an Edge plugin is a waste of time, the market is far too small.
Re:More like nobody cares (Score:4, Insightful)
You have to excuse them, they're not used to not being the biggest market where people would jump through even the most ridiculous hoops to develop for them.
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Very true.
No, edge will never be a favorite browser. (Score:2)
It is from a far too untrustworthy company.
Microsoft Store (Score:2)
The reason why I didn't even try to use edge is that every extension must from the Microsoft Store. No thanks. Not touching that thing with a 20 foot pole.
They have Tampermonkey (Score:4, Interesting)
That opens the door for a lot of userscripts.
Let Microsoft explain ... (Score:2)
... why hardly anyone uses Edge.
Enough Extensions for Me (Score:4, Interesting)
I recently switched to Edge from Chrome because I am doing everything I can to step away from Google.
The only Chrome extension that I use that was not available in Edge is Privacy Badger. I went with Ghostery instead.
Other than that, they had everything else I use. LastPass. Adblock Plus. etc.
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This message is so totally not brought to you by Redmond. Nope, no shilling here...
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Hate to break it to you, but I'm not a shill. I have a feeling that we've had this discussion before.
I guess not going along with group think is enough to be labeled a shill these days.
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When someone insists they're moving from Google's spyware to Microsoft's spyware because somehow they think they're sticking it to the man, if they're not a shill, then they're just naive, or possibly just an idiot.
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I guess I'm just an idiot then. An idiot who found all of the extensions that I needed for Edge.
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Google is bad, you want to step way from it. I can understand that. But to Microsoft?
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One browser is the same as any other these days. As other commenters have pointed out, they all have their security flaws. At this point all I care about is making it harder for Google to maintain the profile that they have built on me.
As for Win10 and being tracked, it doesn't matter anymore. Have any of you guys been paying attention? The NSA has pwnt the entire internet. All of our metadatas are belongs to them. They already know who we are talking to and when we are talking to them. Whether it is
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And firefox isn't an option because... ?
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Edge is getting the job done. Firefox is an option. I was an avid Firefox user before I used Chrome. Maybe I am naïve, but I think Microsoft has a stronger security team than Mozilla does.
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Correction:
Adblock Plus doesn't work against taboola, there are plenty of other extensions that do. So be accurate there.
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I know that you are being sarcastic / trolling here. But Brad Smith at Microsoft has pushed back on government overreach very publicly over the last few years. No company is perfect. Having said that, I /know/ that Google is selling my data to advertisers and profiting off of my browsing behavior. I don't /know/ that Microsoft is doing that (unless I use Bing, which I don't).
I don't think it matters, but I'm also using Win10 Enterprise from a work ISO. Not the free upgrade version that they pushed out
You want for Edge to be or favorite browser? (Score:2)
how do i uninstall edge ? (Score:2)
The single most awful thing about win 10 is all the crap I have to leave installed because microsoft.
I don't want edge because it's probably a security threat even if you don't use it. How long before there's an exploit that invokes it even when it's not your default web browser.
and yet - it appears to be very difficult to remove.
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It's like Microsoft wants Windows to become Android but they're actually worse since, AFAIK, not even Android promotes its maker's apps with ads originating from the very OS.
Translation? (Score:2)
We have a difficult time getting developers to create them.
IE is better than Edge. (Score:1)
Microsoft Edge is missing basic functionality that has been found in every other browser for the past 10 years (the ability to view a certificate). The Senior Program Manager saying things like "We want Microsoft Edge to be your favorite browser, with the fundamentals you expect". Is the equivalent to somebody telling you they are trying to lose weight while eating an entire gallon of ice cream.
If you search "Edge view certificate" the answer given by a moderator on technet is basically Open Internet Exp
one day, someone will tell me... (Score:2)
one day, someone will tell me why my browser needs an add-on in the first place. It's been 30 years, and as long as my browser shows the web page, I don't see what else it needs to do. One plug in to open a PDF, but not any other type of file? What good is that?
Maybe edge needs an add-on to be able to print a selection. That'd be swell. PrintScreen & Paint will do just fine though.
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Some of us absolutely can't stand the awful defaults of an ugly gray or blue browser with gray or white scrollbars a blindingly bright white background upon which black text is displayed and ads all over the damned place.
To remedy those situations, we need extensions.
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No you don't. You can block ads at the network level, and you can change default backgrounds with a user-defined stylesheet.
Maybe you need extensions because you don't know what your browser already has?
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It's been 30 years, and as long as my browser shows the web page, I don't see what else it needs to do.
Using the web without a full complement of tools like Javascript blocking, popup blocking, XSS & clickjack protection, etc. is pretty hellish. It makes huge portions of the web straight-up unusable.
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The huge portions that I haven't needed in thirty years, and don't expect to need in the next thirty? I seem to be doing pretty well with Slashdot, techreport, duckduckgo, Wikipedia, amazon, ebay, all of my clients, all of my suppliers, and garfield. I block facebook, twitter, and google at the network level, I block ads at the network level, and I don't click on stupid things. I think you're making "scary" sound more complicated than "don't go there". It's not.
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Sure, I'm with you in that I'm very selective about what sites I go to. But you and I aren't representative of the usual web user at all. For those who are less discriminating, extensions are very important in terms of making the web usable, at least until browsers start incorporating these sorts of defenses natively (which will never happen).
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blocker? hosts file have 10'000 entries of domain names to block. That kills 99% of all ads -- image and video. blocking third-party cookies blocks most of the rest.
ask me how many times I go to Slashdot.org, and expect to receive content from superads.com? About as many times as I walk into best buy, and expect to receive products from bed bath and beyond. If the sales guy in best buy told you to first go next door and look at bed bath and beyond's mattress sale before shopping for your sd card, would
There are no extension (Score:1)
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Usually Microsoft is championing how they're "Making it Simple(TM)" to develop and deploy millions of plugins with little regard to privacy, security, upgradability, or robustness. Just get the latest Visual Studio which will give you a wizard that will spew out reams of boilerplate code, and you insert your application in the white spaces.
Not always. At one time their promotion of add ons for IE amounted to "It is harder to make add ons so you will have less competition.
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I would have to check, but I could imagine that this is actually the case. But you know what they say, you can lead a donkey to the well but you can't make him drink, and you can make it easy to develop plugins but you can't force people to make one for a browser nobody uses.