UBlock Origin extension released on Microsoft Edge

Finally, Microsoft Edge launched the most effective ad blocker, which consumes the least amount of processor and memory resources compared to other blockers, and is also distributed with open source code. Of course, this is Raymond Hill's famous uBlock Origin.

Porting uBlock Origin for Microsoft Edge is underway in the uBlock-Edge repository on Github. On December 11, 2016, the project reached such a level that its author Nick Rolls (Nik Rolls) decided to put uBlock-Edge in the official Windows Store directory of extensions for the Edge browser .

At this moment, the program earned 79 reviews, the average rating is 4.5 stars out of 5 possible: 72 out of 79 reviews were rated with the maximum rating, and the author of the only minimum rating put 1 star by mistake, judging by his admired review.

The extension is available for the Windows 10 operating system under x86 or x64 architecture. The publisher is Nick Rolls, who is also the main developer of the ported version and the owner of the repository on Github. The distribution size for installing the extension is 6.62 MB.

Nick Rolls himself writesthat the “crazy idea” to port uBlock Origin for the Microsoft Edge browser came to him five months ago during a lunch break at work. As usual, developers use the break from programming to think and discuss new ideas for software development with colleagues.

Then, just recently, the Windows 10 Anniversary Update was released, and with it there was support for extensions in Microsoft Edge. At that time, Adblock and Adblock Plus were already available for the Redmond browser, but for every advanced user who was careful about protecting personal data, there was an obvious lack of the most effective uBlock Origin extension on this list, which surpasses other extensions in all tests and even more so doesn't have a weird list of "allowed ads"on which Adblock Plus developers make money.

Nick Rolls immediately thought about porting uBlock Origin to a new platform. And although not many users use the Windows 10 operating system and the Edge browser, and the browser has enough technical oddities, for example, it cannot save open files (if there is no link). Some geeks under Windows still choose exactly this option, because Edge is superior in performance to Internet Explorer. At the same time, Edge is not available anywhere except in Windows 10.

On the same day, the programmer came home, immediately made a copy of the source code of uBlock Origin - and began to program. After about an hour, the guy, to his surprise, achieved the functionality of the uBlock Origin core kernel under Edge. Then he gave a cry to Windows Central that the work was in progress. The news didn’t go unnoticed: there was some seething among Windows programmers, so Nick got a great incentive to finish the job.

At that time, the extension catalog was not yet open to all comers, but after a few months, Microsoft representatives contacted the programmer about preparing the final release of uBlock Origin. Later, he coordinated his work with them, receiving the latest information about changes in the Edge codebase and new browser features, as well as getting help in those problems that he could not cope on his own.

In the end, December 11, 2016 came the day when the uBlock Origin extension was officially accepted into the Windows Store directory.

uBlock Origin (Preview) for Edge

Nick Rolls warns that the work is not finished yet. There are a few problems, which can be discussed in the comments to the repository and help in their solution. But overall, the extension works pretty well, despite the declarative preview status .

About 95% of the uBlock Origin code for Edge is the original code, the same one that works in the uBlock Origin extensions for Chrome and Firefox. The changes concern only the interface layer of interaction directly with the browser.



Compared to the versions for Chrome and Firefox, this extension is closest to the version for Chrome. They are very similar because Edge programmers did a great job to bring the Edge programming interfaces closer to the Chrome Reference Browser programming interfaces. So now it’s relatively easy to port the Chrome extension for Edge .

Work on uBlock Origin continues, and Nick Rolls invites everyone to join her.

Given the small number of extensions under Edge, the release of such a useful and useful extension is welcome. In terms of functionality, the version for Edge is almost not inferior to the original, except that a few minor functions are missing.



In principle, Microsoft is not so much dependent on advertising revenue as Google, so for the convenience of users, it could well integrate uBlock Origin directly into the Edge browser out of the box. It would be the only mainstream browser with a built-in ad blocker, because Google is unlikely to do this. Mozilla earning on affiliate programs will not darewith search engines that show ads in search results. This is practically the only source of income for Mozilla, just like Google.