Microsoft has promised that it has plans to bring Edge, Microsoft's in-house web browser for Windows 10, to the Windows Store at some point. Microsoft has been saying that this is their goal for several months at this point, and today we may finally have some kind of time-frame to follow regarding when we can expect to see Microsoft Edge in the Windows Store
According to a report from Neowin, Microsoft is targeting Redstone 3 as the release of Windows 10 that brings Edge to the Windows Store. Windows Central can confirm that this is indeed accurate, however as with all internal plans, this plan can slip into the next release instead. We also heard that this was the plan for Redstone 2, but that ended up not happening in time for release.
Decoupling Microsoft Edge from the OS and bringing it to the Windows Store is a significant change, as it allows Microsoft to develop and release updates to the browser at a much faster cadence compared to currently. Browsers like Google Chrome or Firefox can already be updated whenever needed with new features, bug fixes and more. With Edge, updates are released bundled with every new "version" of Windows 10, meaning we only get two major Edge updates a year.
So, putting Edge in the Windows Store allows Microsoft to add new features and enhancements to the browser and release them via app updates in the Store, meaning Microsoft can develop faster and users can get access to new features quicker, without needing to wait for an entire new release of Windows 10.
As the report from Neowin states, Microsoft wants this change to be made in time for Redstone 3, and our sources can confirm that this is indeed accurate, but with a chance of this plan slipping into Redstone 4 if Microsoft isn't able to finish in time.
Hopefully Microsoft will talk more about Redstone 3 at build, and maybe announce that this change will finally be showing up before the years end. Let us know below what you think!
