Microsoft begins accepting extensions for its Edge Chromium browser

Microsoft’s new Chromium-based Edge browser is now open to developers to submit extensions. The updated version of Edge is set to launch on January 15.

Microsoft says that if a developer has already created an extension for Google Chrome, there shouldn’t be any additional work to port it over to Edge Chromium. The browser will be the new default delivered to all 900 million Windows 10 users, so developers should have no reason not to port their extensions over.

For Microsoft lovers — Edge includes proprietary Microsoft services, like account syncing and Cortana, as well as some other useful features like note-taking in PDFs. If you’re not a fan of Google or just want to try something new, it’s worth looking at. Microsoft’s old reputation with Internet Explorer still dogs the company but we’re long past those days.

Edge is basically a reskinned Chrome — The new version of Edge will look familiar to anyone who’s used Chrome because it’s based on the same core browser. Google develops Chrome as an open-source project under the Chromium name. Chrome is simply Google’s version that includes all its services, such as Google account syncing, baked in.

Developing Chrome as an open-source project benefits Google because outside developers help contribute improvements to the browser. And unlike with Internet Explorer, web developers won’t have to specifically design their sites for Edge.