Windows 10 Informs Chrome and Firefox Users That Edge is 'Safer' (venturebeat.com)

An anonymous reader shares a VentureBeat report:Microsoft has turned on a new set of Windows Tips that inform Chrome and Firefox users on Windows 10 that Edge is a "safer" browser. We reached out to Microsoft to find out how long this latest recommendation has been active. "This wave of Windows Tips for Windows 10 users began in early November," a Microsoft spokesperson told VentureBeat. If this sounds familiar, that's because Microsoft turned on similar Windows 10 tips back in July, warning Chrome/Firefox users about battery drain and then recommending Edge instead.

Comments

Safer this week

[OffTheLip]

but over time the MSFT security track record is not so good. Thanks but I will pass.

Re:Safer this week

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah bullshit. Those devices are being owned not by flaws but by default passwords. Try again.

Re:Safer this week

[mlts]

I used to do that, but I prefer browsing in VMs, just so if something escapes one browser, it can't do much, and a snapshot rollback instantly fixes all damage.

Browser-wise, I would give Chrome the nod (although it doesn't have NoScript-like functionality) because of how it runs Flash and other items in separate VMs, limiting the context a compromised add-on can damage. Add uBlock Origin and Tampermonkey, and this does an adequate job at dealing with malvertising.

In my experience, blocking ads does a lot more for security than almost any AV utility. AV utilities are stymied by 0-days. Ad blockers don't care how old the exploit is... if it can't load through an ad server, it doesn't run.

Antitrust

[Anonymous Coward]

Remember when just bundling Internet Explorer with the OS was enough reason to provoke an anti-trust response?

The new standard for the OS: pushing crap & sp

[StandardCell]

It seems that those peddling your average mainstream OS these days are hellbent on pushing their views of the world on what is largely an unsuspecting and technically ignorant user base. Use Android? We'll spy on you wherever you go and push a bunch of ads for something you already bought yesterday. Use Windows? We'll create self-doubt in your choice of software to push you into our domain where we can collect information on you, and push ads on your start screen unless you jump through dozens of technical hoops. Use MacOS? We'll collect anything you do in Spotlight so we can "make our product better" for you.

Just like Farcebook and any other SaaS platform, the OS guys are trying real hard to squeeze a few extra dollars out of us users at the expense of users by making the user the product rather than the OS. That this happened with Edge in this case is merely another symptom of this greater problem. The /. crowd and people of similar technical capability can filter out this BS, but the average user will continually fall victim to this nonsense with no idea of the real consequences, both individually and for the overall browser market.

Comparison of Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures

[Jon Abbott]

Here are CVE details for each browser:

Edge: https://www.cvedetails.com/pro...
Chrome: https://www.cvedetails.com/pro...
Firefox: https://www.cvedetails.com/pro...

It looks like each of them has had their fair share of significant security flaws. Does anyone track how quickly flaws are patched for each?

The new Microsoft?

[markdavis]

I love how just two days ago how some people were posting here: https://linux.slashdot.org/sto... how much better and open Microsoft is than it used to be. How they are such a better company.

Sorry, this is the same old news- using their near monopolistic powers to put up messages about their competition. I guess this just follows after making sure dual boot is a disaster, locking out competing OS's on certain hardware, giving away near free licenses of their products to governments trying to break free of MS lockin by using Linux....

can't even use it on MS pages

[sipke.van.der.meulen]

Well of course it's safer: You can't use it on Microsoft's own admin webpages: (office 365 portal admin/ azure admin/ iaas portals ) Funny people, those MS guys

9 out of 10 doctors who smoke agree!

[sizzzzlerz]

Lucky Strike cigarettes are healthier for your lungs!

Re:Just reminded of GWBush quote "Safer"

[hey!]

ISIS is taking a shellacking. Americans just don't realize it because we're not spending a trillion dollars and 4400 lives doing it. Mosul will probably fall before Trump takes office, and if Obama and Kerry can work out the problems with Turkey there's a good chance ISIS will be getting kicked out of its capital Raqqah as the new president takes office. This will destroy even the semblance of a claim to an ISIS caliphate since that requires holding territory.

And as for Al Qaeda... Al who?

Oh, and the destabilizing influences of energy dependency? US oil and gas production has soared under Obama's policies (much to the displeasure of his base) so that the US will be a net energy exporter this year for the first time since 1957. If Trump continues Obama's policies we'll be able to replace most of Russia's gas supply to our trading partners in Europe.

So yeah, I'll take "Obummer" on security over someone who was briefed a month in advance about 9/11 and dismissed it as CYA.

As for Orlando, a mass shootings of one sort of another are a regular event in the US. The last year we went without a mass shooting was 1995. Sometimes like this time it'll be Muslim nutjobs pledging allegiance to the flavor-of-the-month; but just as often it'll racists, misogynists, anti-gummint conspiracy theorists, or just plain apolitical nutjobs. Like always.

But here's the thing: we've decided essentially that mass shootings are rare enough we can live with them. Back in the 70s it used to be revolvers or hunting rifles with internal magazines. Now it's semi-automatics with big removable magazines, so the body count is higher. But statistically it's still rare enough that Amerians (rightly) treat these things as a negligible risk.