Microsoft Edge has slowly crept its way up as one of the more popular web browsers people use every day, especially on Windows 11. In 2022, it even overtook Safari as the second-most-popular browser in the world behind Chrome (although it has since dropped back to third). Despite running on Chromium, the same engine as Chrome, it has a lot of features even Chrome lacks, like collections and shopping features that can help you save money. And, of course, there’s the recent rise of Bing Chat. There’s a reason why I use it every day on some of the best laptops I review,
And even with all this popularity, it still feels like Microsoft is trying too hard with Edge. The company has gotten way too aggressive with its web browser recently, and it’s very concerning to see this behavior. Microsoft really wants you to try the browser no matter what, so it puts it in so many areas of Windows 11.
The concept of my operating system “pushing” anything on me, as is the norm on Windows and macOS, is entirely foreign to me these days. Fedora or Linux Mint aren’t advertising their services in the settings application, or pushing their browser through pop-ups or by secretly changing the default browset setting, or whatever other sleazeball tactics Microsoft and Apple are up to these days.
I don’t understand how people put up with that nonsense.
Ironically, while signing in to post a comment here I got flagged as a spammer and had to complete a dialog to be allowed to pass. Amazon does similar things to me as a Firefox/Linux user. If I go there with Firefox I have to type characters; if I go there with Chrome at the same time on the same machine with the same IP address, I don’t and it lets me right in.
Basically the new agenda of big tech is to make the Internet completely unusable unless you are on one of their platforms; Windows, Chrome, Edge. It makes what is outlined in the article seem quaint. I can avoid big tech’s hostile behavior by not using their products, and that’s why they are now on a mission to make the Internet increasingly less usable for me when I choose not to.
kbd,
I see that too. I get the “Stop Spammers” “access denied” page on every single login now. It looks like result of recent changes to the osnews website. Several links are missing on the right hand column as well.
Microsoft succeeded in doing this with IE before they got into antitrust trouble. But now that their court mandated restrictions have expired and google chrome is the dominant browser, microsoft may feel more confident that they can promote the browser aggressively on windows without getting into trouble.
What blew my mind the most though, is the way I can have two windows open at the same time; one in each browser, and one is just let in to Amazon. Also it happens on even a vanilla, untouched Firefox profile that doesn’t have e.g. ublock origin or enhanced privacy settings engaged.
Yeah I know Microsoft were the OG’s of “trusted computing”; they began working on implementing this, or at least drawing up specifications for it way back when XP came out. But around that time, their competition in the browser market folded and so they had no reason to care about web browser development anymore. And that’s how they completely lost control of the web.
I thought it was just me. I get challenged when posting to OSAlert all the time. I will take it less personally now.
EDIT: I have to add that when I went to submit the comment above, I was hit with the challenge to provide my email and answer a question. Sad and hilarious.
Ugh, Edge has to be the least privacy respecting browser of all, I ended up turning off all the options, some of them I had to look up, but finally got rid of the Bing assistant, Bing search engine, safety filter and everything else that sends my data to Microsoft. Still use Firefox whenever possible, though.
Moochman ,
Personally I could not find a UI to turn off the integrated web searching on a user system. The instructions used regedit, actually having to create a new branch too! Obviously we know it’s a privacy issue, but she was complaining about performance issues and every time she tried using the start menu there were very significant slowdowns. I don’t know if it’s a common problem, but it turned out that turning off the web search from the start menu fixed it.
Probably also a combination with high latency internet connection. Because CLEARLY we’re all connected to fiber with low latency and high bandwidth Microsoft.
I think when it was tested it phoned home about the same as yaBrowser so not great. Some nice features though, remove dupe bookmarks is very useful as is the inclusion of AdBlockPlus on the Android version, you have to uncheck allow some ads of course.
Vivaldi got built in adblocker (customizable with blocklists) on Android. And also an extremely customizable interface without all the junk in Edge.
You can for example move the address bar to the bottom of the screen which is great for one handed browsing.
Ironically, Microsoft Edge is the software that does the most to keep me from having to use Windows.
My primary desktop is Linux and Firefox is my browser of choice. Sadly, I run into problems with Firefox all the time. The majority of the computing I do is during work hours so that means interacting with lots of other people, applications, and documents where everybody else is using Windows. In particular, Firefox often has issues with video conferencing. I use Teams, WebEx, GoToMeeting, Zoom, Google Meet, and others everyday and Firefox either plain does not work or is unreliable with many of them.
I do not like or use Chrome for lots of reasons. I am not trying to convince anybody but, since Chrome may also work where Firefox does not, I am just explaining that I do not use it.
So, I have found myself using Microsoft Edge on Linux more and more. It just works. I would rather use Firefox and am always looking for something even more free. I often mention the great hope that I have for Ladybird in the future. In the meantime, I have work to do and Edge allows me to go about my day on Linux with minimum obstruction from my browser.
I guess one of the benefits of being a Linux user is that nobody is pushing Edge down my throat. Despite that, I use it a lot.
tanishaj,
This is exactly what started happening with IE. It had so much market share that companies didn’t even bother testing or supporting alternatives. As a developer I’ve always felt it important to support alternatives, but especially now that firefox marketshare is below critical mass, some clients feel that supporting alternatives is a waste of time and money, it doesn’t matter if they work.
Unfortunately I think a market failure for FF is becoming more plausible. It doesn’t even matter how good the browser is, mozilla has no way to compete with google/microsoft/apple OS bundling and market pressure.
Firefox doesn’t even play youtube properly most of the time nowadays. At least not on Linux/Wayland.
JTN,
Hmm, I haven’t tested wayland recently (I need screen sharing apps that aren’t compatible with it). But youtube in firefox is working for me (102.6esr). It might be something particular to your configuration? An adblocker perhaps? I do see adblockers incompatibilities with adblockers from time to time.
Perhaps you could try Vivaldi? It is my primary browser on both Linux and Android and I have not experienced any problems. Also, you get an extremely customizable interface with useful features and no bloat as a bonus.
Edge Chromium was pretty ok in the beginning, nice simple UI, good performance, all Chrome addons. But for every version there is more and more sidebars, buttons and features no one asked for. I used to use Edge on a 7th Gen Core i5 laptop I have, but now it’s so bad I can’t even be bothered to remove, turn off and disable all the junk so I just use Vivaldi.
Opera also used to be pretty nice. Until they started all this GX stuff and tried to become a “gaming web browser”, whatever that is.
Chrome I haven’t used in a decade or so.
I must say, I find myself agreeing with the sentiment expressed in the article. Microsoft’s relentless push with Edge sometimes seems overzealous. While competition in the browser market is essential, trying too hard to gain dominance can backfire.
On a related note, it’s crucial for individuals to have access to reliable financial options when needed. For instance, https://paydaysay.com/500-dollar-loan/ provides a trustworthy solution with their $500 payday loans. Just like in the tech world, keeping things balanced and straightforward can be beneficial in personal finance.
In the end, both Microsoft and individuals seeking financial assistance can benefit from finding the right balance. Simplicity and reliability often resonate better with users, whether it’s in technology or loan solutions. Let’s hope for a harmonious approach that caters to user needs in both domains!
We are back to internet explorer days. Nothing new about this when it comes to Microsoft.