Microsoft Edge updates coming to the Windows Store with Redstone 3, reports say

Nearly five years ago, Windows 8 was the first version of Windows to ship with an integrated app store, a touch-optimized version of Internet Explorer and many other “modern,” lightweight native apps. Windows 8 and Windows Store apps were poorly received by consumers, but Microsoft persevered with Windows 10, which brought a much better Windows Store and a new set of UWP apps that are much more usable for keyboard and mouse users.

As of today, the Windows Store is definitely a key part of Windows 10: it now offers entertainment content, AAA games as well as UWP apps, but Microsoft is also looking inviting developers to distribute their legacy Win32 apps available in its unified storefront. And even if you don’t use the Windows Store at all, the app will still work in the background, updating Microsoft’s native UWP apps such as Outlook Mail and Calendar, the Xbox app or even the Calculator app.

However, there is one major UWP that is not updated through the Windows Store, and that’s Microsoft Edge. This seems pretty surprising considering that third-party browsers such as Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome have adopted a fast release cycle, with new versions being released every six weeks or so. For many of us, the web browser is our most-used apps on our PCs, and it’s not clear how Microsoft Edge could ever catch up with its competitors if Microsoft keeps updating it once or twice per year, along with major Windows 10 updates.

However, after Edge extensions finally became available to download through the Windows Store last year, and it seems that Microsoft could finally make Edge a true Windows Store app this year. According to a new report from Neowin, the change could occur with the upcoming Redstone 3 update later this Fall:

According to internal sources, that’s all going to change in September, when the next feature update to Windows 10, codenamed Redstone 3, is released. Users will finally be able to get updates to the Edge browser via the Windows Store, which will allow Microsoft to add new features more frequently.

If this does happen, this could definitely help Microsoft Edge to improve faster than it does currently. This move would also be consistent with the upcoming release of Windows 10 Cloud, which won’t support Google Chrome or Firefox out of the box. Microsoft really needs to improve its Edge browser if it wants Windows 10 Cloud to be able to compete with Chromebooks, which ship with the very popular Chrome browser.

Do you think it makes sense for Microsoft to make Edge a true Windows Store app, and would you use it more if it was updated with new features more frequently? Let us know what you think in the comments below.