Easier to find extensions on new Edge page
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Microsoft has relaunched the Edge Add-ons page ( www. snipca.com/35213) with a new design to make it easier for users to find extensions for the browser.
The popularity of Edge’s extensions will be vital in its battle to attract Chrome users, following the browser’s relaunch in January.
Microsoft’s aim is to present different ways to discover apps. So as well as traditional categories like News and Photos, there are new collections called ‘Editor’s picks’ and Trending.
The former contains extensions recommended by Microsoft’s staff. When we visited, it contained 36 extensions, including some of the biggest names in VPNS (Hola), ad-blockers (Adblock Plus), password managers (Lastpass, Norton) and security (Avast, HTTPS Everywhere).
You can see these apps by clicking ‘View more’ ( 1 in our screenshot) at the top of the page, to the right of ‘Editor’s picks’, or by clicking ‘Editor’s picks’ 2 in the left-hand menu.
To see the Trending extensions, scroll down below ‘Editor’s picks’, or click the Trending link 3 on the left. You’ll see extensions that are currently very popular with Edge users. When we checked, these included the privacy-focused search engine Duckduckgo and Microsoft Editor, which makes suggestions to improve your writing.
For a more conventional way to browse extensions, click a category in the left-hand menu 4 . These are listed alphabetically, from Accessibility to Sports.
Alternatively, you can search for an extension by typing in the top-left box 5 . If you don’t know the name of a specific extension, try typing a category it belongs to – for example, typing PDF brings up 95 tools for reading and converting PDFS.
Microsoft explains these changes in its blog ( www. snipca.com/35212), and asks for your feedback. You can give this by pressing Shift+alt+i then typing your thoughts in the box and clicking Send at the bottom.
Edge updated on Windows 7 and 8.1
Microsoft has also added the revamped Edge to computers running Windows 7 or 8.1, via the update titled KB4567409 ( www.snipca.com/35215). Previously, you had to manually install the new version.
Once it has installed, you’ll find the Edge icon pinned to your taskbar, and a shortcut to it on your desktop.
In its instructions for the update, Microsoft acknowledges that it ended support for Windows 7 in January, saying: “Although Microsoft Edge helps keep your device secure on the web, your device may still be vulnerable to security risks. We recommend that you move to a supported operating system.”
Essential new tools in the May 2020 Update - page 60