In late September, Google announced revised plans to continue supporting Manifest V2-based extensions in Chrome for at least one more year. Now Microsoft is ready to follow suit with its updated roadmap regarding implementing Manifest V3 and phasing out Manifest V2.
According to the updated documentation, organizations can continue using Manifest V2 extensions on systems configured with corresponding policies until at least January 2024.
As of now, Microsoft no longer accepts Manifest V2-based extensions in the Edge Add-ons Store (Public or Hidden). Still, developers can push updates for existing extensions to maintain or add new features. The next step in phasing-out old extensions is to stop accepting updates (except the ones upgrading Manifest V2 to V3) and prevent the browser from running V2-based extensions without enterprise policies. Eventually, it will become impossible to use Manifest V2 extensions in the Edge browser at some point.
Microsoft is not ready to announce when it will stop accepting updates for Manifest V2 extensions, let alone disable them for good on all systems, including enterprise. The company says it will continue analyzing the concerns raised by developers and exploring the right path for the Microsoft Edge Add-ons ecosystem. You can find more information about Manifest V3 extensions for Microsoft Edge in the official documentation.
Although developers are not happy with Manifest V3 (even with many changes implemented since the initial proposal), the practice shows that most extensions, including content blockers, will survive the dreaded migration. AdGuard, for example, recently launched its first Manifest V3-based extension and detailed how it operates under new rules.
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