Microsoft has disclosed that the Microsoft 365 extension for browsers will be shutting down. The feature is available for Google Chrome and Edge — the company’s own browser. Despite not giving details on the reason for discontinuing the extension, the decision appears to be more of a move in favor of Edge.
Maybe you’ve never used this feature (I, who use Word a lot, have never used it), but the Microsoft 365 online extension can be considered a success. In total, 10 million users have installed the tool (6 million on Chrome, 4 million on Edge).
With it, it is easier to access Microsoft 365 programs, formerly Office. Just click on the extension and select the desired app or some recent file. All without having to go to the address bar and type in the URL to access the service’s page. Now it’s more “time-consuming” — at least for those on Chrome.
End of extension is worse for Chrome users
In the advisory, published on Microsoft’s support page, the company explains that Chrome users can “override” the extension by bookmarking the Microsoft 365 page. Google’s list of favorite pages can be accessed by another shortcut in the address bar.
As for Edge users, Microsoft informs that the suite of professional programs can be accessed through the sidebar of your browser. With this Edge functionality, it’s understandable that the company chooses to discontinue the 365 extension — not least because the shortcut works identically. The sidebar brings together several shortcuts to Microsoft services, such as Bing Chat, and allows you to add websites.
With these accessibility differences from Microsoft 365 to Chrome and Edge, it’s hard not to believe that the company’s decision was made to favor its browser. After all, both browsers are built on Chromium, which doesn’t require many differences in the creation of the extension — in theory.
Google and Microsoft keep forcing their services on users, usually trying to prevent consumers from switching some kind of service to default or making more intrusive advertisements. This year, for example, some Chrome users reported that when they opened their browser, the page to switch their default browser also opened.
