Microsoft Edge is going to make a point of helping you improve the browser with a new badge system for add-ons.
Plugins (also called extensions) are little extras that can be integrated into the browser to manage all sorts of functionality, but clearly the trick to thriving Edge with them is to choose good plugins, not bloated or shoddy ones. sacrifices (even malicious in the worst case).
As reported by MS Power User (opens in a new tab), what the new system provides is a badge, a visual icon, present on the product description page and elsewhere, to show that any given browser extension is of a high enough quality to deserve that label. So, in short, you know you're getting something you can trust and it's going to work just fine.
Microsoft announces that it will soon start testing extension badges in the Edge Addons Store (EAS). The company notes (opens in a new tab): "Edge is starting with a small-scale experience and will begin engaging with the developer community to review the criteria and help them become familiar with the EAS accreditation process."
Analysis: another step in the right direction
The badges will also serve as a carrot for developers to build better extensions. As Microsoft explains, developers will be encouraged to follow best practice guidelines when building their plugins to try to qualify for a badge that will ensure their products are more likely to be used by Edge enthusiasts. Therefore, the extensions made are more likely to be of higher quality, in a long sense, or at least that is the hope.
There are a number of library plugins available for Edge users now, so helping sort the wheat from the chaff is clearly a great idea. According to Microsoft, there are close to 000 extensions for Edge today, and naturally they will continue to grow.
It's good to see the software giant take more positive steps to try to thrive Edge as a product. We've also glimpsed another groundbreaking step recently, namely the built-in free VPN that's in trial (and just released, at least for certain Edge users).
This is all refreshing, mainly because we want to see Edge evolve with additional and new features, not test how you can block more ads in Windows XNUMX to boost Edge (let's drop that, Microsoft please).