In the name of fighting bad guy hackers, Google on Thursday said it will not allow its Windows Chrome browser to run any add-ons unless they are downloaded from its own Chrome Web store.
Unsanctioned add-ons will be banned beginning in January.
Add-ons, which are also called extensions, are little apps that add extra functions to the browser. For instance, they can let you post stuff from the Web to your social media accounts or create to-do lists, etc.
Sometimes a cloud service will offer an add-on and let you install it right from its own web page. This will be forbidden. However, enterprise departments will still be able to install add-ons through their own enterprise tools, Google said.
This comes on top of a new feature Google added last week that will let you reset your browser completely, including wiping out all add-ons you've downloaded. That way, if you think you've downloaded an evil one, you can get rid of it.
There's been some jaded comments across the Internet about the banned add-ons. Some people are saying that Google will ban add-ons it doesn't like, like ones that let people download YouTube videos. We'll see.
PC World's Brad Chacos also points out that Google doesn't store add-ons for free.
Developers who want to include their Chrome Web Store have to pay a $5 registration fee—and if your Chrome Web Store-hosted app or extension generates income, Google will take a 5 percent cut of the revenue.
Still, many PC users could find that they like the trade-off: less choice for more security.
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