Now, a year later, and two years after Edge’s launch, Microsoft said in a situation update that Edge has increased from 13 extensions the number of expansions available in August 2016 to 70, the number open today on the Windows Store.
The figure is hilariously short when compared to a number of extensions possible for other browsers. For instance, there are nearly 19,000 add-ons in the Mozilla Add-ons Portal and an undisclosed number of add-ons some put it around 40,000 in the Chrome Web Store.
The basic cause for this low number of add-ons is that Microsoft rushed Edge development so it would have a sparkling new browser when it started Windows 10 in 2015.
While Edge wowed users with its speed and minimalistic interface, many basic browser pieces were missing there are literally way too many to list here.
Because of this, most users kept practicing their older browsers, and because users didn’t flock in, not did developers a year later when Microsoft continued support for extensions.
According to NetMarketShare data, Edge usage has plateaued at throughout 5.5% for almost a year, showing no visible growth.
To power this growth, Edge would need something extra to attract users onto its platform. If Microsoft would accomplish to attract extension devs onto its platform, Edge’s future growth could come from this area.
Microsoft is wanting on a golden opportunity this fall. Mozilla is about to launch Firefox 57 on November 14. Firefox 57 will replace the old Add-ons API with a new WebExtensions API. Around 5,000 of Mozilla’s 19,000 add-ons support the new WebExtensions API, meaning most of Firefox’s legacy add-ons will stop working in November, rising in many ticked off users.
If Edge had more extensions, it would have been able to attract a large number of these disappointed Firefox users looking for alternatives. But, it has not, and Firefox users will most likely have to consume their pride or move over to Chrome, Vivaldi, or Opera.
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