Extension vs Addons

[life24]

Hi,
What is difference between extension vs Addons in browser?

 

[Dahak]

Naming

 

[Morbus]

An add-on can be anything from an extension, a theme, a plugin or a search engine, for example.

And extension is a type of add-on that "extends" the functionality of a browser, or a piece of software.

So, Flash is a plugin. Adblock Plus is an extension. Both are add-ons.

In Firefox, for example, you can go into the Add-ons screen and see all manner of add-ons listed in the left sidebar: Extensions, Appearance, Plugins, Dictionaries, Services, etc.

Granted, most people just call whatever they like whatever they like. Someone could be saying plug-ons while referring to add-ons as a whole, or saying add-ins while referring to extensions or whatever.

General rule, people are usually ignorant to a lot of things. Dahak, case in point.

 

[bbhaag]

An add-on can be anything from an extension, a theme, a plugin or a search engine, for example.

And extension is a type of add-on that "extends" the functionality of a browser, or a piece of software.

So, Flash is a plugin. Adblock Plus is an extension. Both are add-ons.

In Firefox, for example, you can go into the Add-ons screen and see all manner of add-ons listed in the left sidebar: Extensions, Appearance, Plugins, Dictionaries, Services, etc.

Granted, most people just call whatever they like whatever they like. Someone could be saying plug-ons while referring to add-ons as a whole, or saying add-ins while referring to extensions or whatever.

General rule, people are usually ignorant to a lot of things. Dahak, case in point.

Nice. You never disappoint....

 

[Dahak]

General rule, people are usually ignorant to a lot of things. Dahak, case in point.

While I do know the differences in them, they are pretty much interchangeable for 95% of the people out there like wheels and tires, hence the simple answer of naming

 

[Ketchup]

Naming

This. Morbus put together a rude little post about how Mozilla defines such things. Maybe that is what the OP wanted, but we don't know since he didn't come out and say it. In Chrome and Opera, for example, everything is an Extension. In Office, everything is an Add-in. It just depends on what the developer wants to name it.

 

[inf1nity]

~snip~

Actually in Firefox when you open Add on manager, the installed Addons are displayed in the tab marked "Extensions"

What you are saying is Mozilla's way of naming them. It is not universal. Google chrome calls its addons "Apps", for example.

 

[Morbus]

Nice. You never disappoint....

Lol, that definitely sounded harsher than it needed to. Don't read too much into it.

While I do know the differences in them, they are pretty much interchangeable for 95% of the people out there like wheels and tires, hence the simple answer of naming

As a SUMO (that's support.mozilla.org) veteran, I can tell you that it does make a difference. Tell someone to disable all add-ons and they only disable plugins, or just extensions, that would do it. Whenever someone says they don't have any add-ons, that's a like, because Flash is an add-on. And so are thousands of different spyware and adware bits that gets installed IN THE SYSTEM as a plugin and not as an extension. That spyware will sometimes go unnoticed and, when Firefox updates and that spyware suddenly doesn't work "right" anymore, it will cause Firefox to hang, or eat up memory or not work as intended. THAT is why the difference is so important: because the people who don't know the difference or couldn't care less are usually the people that need to know it the most.

This. Morbus put together a rude little post about how Mozilla defines such things. Maybe that is what the OP wanted, but we don't know since he didn't come out and say it. In Chrome and Opera, for example, everything is an Extension. In Office, everything is an Add-in. It just depends on what the developer wants to name it.

Well, my post was anything but rude. Blunt? Sure. But not rude.

At any rate, I assumed the OP was not talking about Microsoft Office because Microsoft Office doesn't have add-ons OR extensions, and I assumed the OP was not talking about Chrome or Opera because those don't have add-ons, and I assumed the OP was not talking about your mom because she doesn't have add-ons, add-ins, extensions or plugins...

See? THAT is a rude post.

 

[GrumpyMan]

Wrong, Microsoft Office does have "add-ins" (same as add-on). ASAP Utilities for one, an Excel "add-in".

 

[Ketchup]

Well, my post was anything but rude. Blunt? Sure. But not rude.

General rule, people are usually ignorant to a lot of things. Dahak, case in point.

Yes, that was rude. Welcome to the English language.

 

[Morbus]

Wrong, Microsoft Office does have "add-ins" (same as add-on). ASAP Utilities for one, an Excel "add-in".

That's exactly what I said.