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    Opera Continues to Back Legacy Extensions in Its Browser

    This week, Opera Software launched Opera One R2, a new stable version of its web browser that is filled with numerous features and enhancements.

    Highlight updates encompass a fresh dynamic themes capability, tab splitting, recent tab emphasis, advanced AI capabilities, and a subtle yet significant aspect noted within the comprehensive announcement on the Opera Software site: ongoing support for Manifest V2 extensions.

    Concerning extension backing, Opera remarked: “In addition to that, Opera R2 will keep supporting Manifest V2 extensions, enabling you to use your cherished ad blocking and privacy-boosting extensions just as before.”

    The statement provides a link to further details on the Opera site.

    Opera is dedicated to preserving support for Manifest V2 extensions amidst Chromium’s continuous development, the foundation of Google Chrome and other comparable browsers.

    This dedication guarantees that Opera users can install and utilize Manifest V2 extensions, including favored selections such as uBlock Origin, in their browser.

    Nonetheless, the particulars of this support were not detailed in the announcement. Opera Software indicated its intent to collaborate with extension developers to “establish the best and safest path forward.”

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    This ongoing endorsement is vital, especially as Google aims to eliminate code associated with Manifest V2 from Chromium in the forthcoming year. Simultaneously, there are existing policies that permit the use of Manifest V2 extensions in Chromium-based browsers.

    Google Chrome has already commenced phasing out Manifest V2 support for users lacking the necessary policies.

    At present, Brave Software is the sole other entity that has confirmed its browser, Brave, will provide support for a limited selection of Manifest V2 extensions in the future.

    If Opera fulfills its pledge to back all Manifest V2 extensions, it would empower users to continue using their preferred extensions alongside new Manifest V3 options, similar to Firefox, which accommodates both extension categories.

    Opera Software possesses a distinctive advantage over Brave Software and many other Chromium-based browser developers—aside from Microsoft and Google—because it maintains its own extension marketplace. While Opera users may access extensions from the Chrome Web Store, they can also utilize the company’s exclusive store.

    Conversely, Brave Software does not have its own store, which may have influenced its decision to support only a limited range of extensions. Google is scheduled to remove Manifest V2 extensions from its web store next year when the associated policy concludes.

    As it stands, two Chromium-based browsers are positioned to uphold support for Manifest V2 extensions until mid-2025: Brave, which will support only a few, and Opera, which aims to endorse all of them.

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    The outlook of this initiative remains uncertain, as does the potential for other browser developers to follow suit and significantly deviate from the broader Chromium structure.

    Image Source: Jarretera / Shutterstock

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