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Vivaldi CEO: Stop Your Anti-Competitive Practices With Edge, Microsoft! (betanews.com)
Reader Mark Wilson writes: Microsoft is no stranger to pissing people off, particularly when it comes to Windows 10. There have been endless cries about forced updates, complaints about ads, moaning about privacy, and now the CEO of Vivaldi has lashed out at the company for its anti-competitive practices with Microsoft Edge. Jon von Tetzchner says that Microsoft has forgotten about the "actual real-life people that use technology in their daily lives." He takes particular umbrage at Windows 10's continued insistence of resetting the default browser to Edge. Indicating that his patience has now run out, von Tetzchner points to a 72-year-old friend who was confused by the change and unable to reverse things. He says that Microsoft is failing to respect the decisions made by users, and this is something that needs to stop.
In the brave new world of Big Data, users are not customers. Users are raw products to be quantified, classified and sold to advertisers and marketers. What users want is not important - it's the ones that actually pay Microsoft that matter.
How come Slashdot never gets Slashdotted?
Major updates often do reset user defaults for some people.
"Vivaldi Technologies is a Software Development company, most known for its creation of the Vivaldi browser." https://vivaldi.com/
Minor detail the article and summary leave out.
Maybe Microsoft uses all the data it has on you to determine whether you are good with the computer or bad, and if they know it wouldn't be useful to turn the default to edge because you can handle the computer well enough to set it back to your preference, they don't even try. On the other hand, if you are a 72 year old...
I use windows 10 on a couple of computers all set with chrome as the default and have never had an issue with edge somehow being my default. The only time I ever see edge is because I do use one web site that only works with it and if click on some of the default tiles it uses edge but then it covers up and remove much of the UI for the purpose of display just that tile info that you would not recognize it as a regular browser.
Until they're slapped with SIGNIFICANT, ongoing, escalating fines, or the company is seriously threatened with a breakup, not a single fuck will be given.
Chas - The one, the only.
THANK GOD!!!
I suspect that Microsoft has a huge amount of A/B testing going on. 50/50 chance your browser gets reset and the 50 that don't go out and blame the 50 that do for screwing it up somehow.
My coworker and I both ended up with the win10 home version after the 7 to 10 upgrade. She regularly gets popups when launching Chrome about how secure Edge is, I have never gotten one.
If I have been able to see further than others, it is because I bought a pair of binoculars.
If you could uninstall Edge, then it would be a non-issue, since you could then make sure that a given user would never encounter that problem. Since you can't get rid of Edge, however, the problem will inevitably be encountered. Therefore it is an issue.
Vivaldi to Microsoft: Stop Your Anti-Competitive Practices!
Microsoft to Vivaldi: No.
Seriously, Microsoft barely even listens to governments anymore, you really think they care about about browser that has less market-share than even Firefox?
I've had my Win 10 machine for 10 months, I set the default browser to Firefox when I got it and it has NEVER tried to reset to Edge. I am calling shenanigans on this Vivaldi bozo and his friend...
No but it does prompt you every once in a while to ask if you want to keep your default browser and offers up everything that's registered to handle URLs. It does this no matter what the default is set to, even Edge. They do the same for documents. I've had Windows prompt me to ask if I want to keep opening .docx files with Word. Happens probably once every 6 months or so. I imagine if someone wasn't paying attention they could switch the default by mistake.
I think they do it to make sure the user is aware of what is default and that something hasn't hijacked it, and to allow users to change the preference without having to go digging for it (aka Grandpa). Unfortunately I think MS grossly overestimates the ability of most users to read a prompt before clicking random buttons to make it go away.
I browse on +1 so AC's need not respond, I won't see it.
Honestly, is there anyone that does actually use the Edge browser? I don't, since I avoid 10 like the plague that it is. My CO, who did a review of it, just apsolutly hated it. It worked fine out of the proverbial box, but had next to no plug-in support. Like any ab blocks are enhance cookie management for privacy.
I don't get it reset...but now every time I start up a browser that isn't Edge, it pop ups a little warning saying how Edge is a better and safer browser.
It feels like it's acting like the guy who never gets picked, but keeps trying, hoping that one day he'll be the one who gets out of the dugout, dropping hints to the coach that _he_ could do better than the regulars. "Boy, you wouldn't even be on the team, but you're the owners son, so I can't fire you."
It reset the default browser after the big October update; re-enabled Cortana and put it back on the task bar if you'd disabled it IIRC. Several updates (including the big October one) have also put Edge and the Windows Store back in your task bar if you had unpinned them.
Source: I maintain a few dozen computers spread among various clients (small businesses) as a side job. My SOP was to disable Cortana and remove it, Edge, and the Windows Store from the task bar. It was a major PITA having to do this over and over on so many computers. I seriously doubt it was user error - that would've required a few dozen users to simultaneously decide "I think I'll re-enable Cortana and pin it, Edge, and the Windows store back to my task bar" to jive with my experience Microsoft may have done it again recently - I got fed up with it and just disabled the update service on my personal Win 10 machine so I wouldn't know. My next planned update is beginning of Feb. Haven't yet made the rounds this month to check my clients' computers.
Every major windows 10 build update resets your program defaults to all of the Microsoft applications (including edge) and pins several Microsoft applications to your taskbar if you've unpinned them. Namely edge, store, and cortana.
So far in the history of windows 10, this has happened four times.
Which is 4 times too many
She regularly gets popups when launching Chrome about how secure Edge is, I have never gotten one.
Settings > System > Notifications and Actions > "Get tips, tricks and suggestions as you use Windows" > NO! WTF WERE YOU THINKING, NO!
Wow, people still posts these replies? Because, if there is ONE thing windows is known for over the years, it is a complete guarantee of consistency. That what happens on one machine happens on millions of others.
As a counterpoint, my work machine would reset html and pdf file associations back to edge on a weekly basis. Had to edit the registry to get rid of the behaviour.
True. Linux is catching up to windows in the "removal of choice" dept.
I wonder if the Trumpian political environment has emboldened MS to return to its pushy monopolistic ways.
Table-ized A.I.
A friend of mine has a visual impairment. He has often complained that Windows 10 updates have reset his accessibility options, like the mouse button binding he uses for the magnifier. Microsoft won't care about browser preferences being reset, but maybe a fine for disobeying the Americans with Disabilities Act will get them to get their act together.
I can tell you that this is done at the product group level. They are goaled with user adoption metrics so you will find many of these things types of anti-competitive 'features' in their releases and updates. Ultimately it is the fault of management for not reigning in this practice.
You are right. Most Linux supporters don't complain about systemd, in the same way. Except for the small few that have moved to Devaun Linux, Slackware Linux, Void Linux, Alpine Linux, Guix Linux, etc. They might still complain because they moved to Distros that don't have forced systemd and the bigger box distros developing everything as if systemd is the only init system that matters. This means that systemd free or optional systems need to do extra development on anything glued to systemd.
Then there are the one like me that moved to BSD systems. I treated Linux the same way I did Windows when it got stupid. With that said, at least people can officially support Linux without systemd.
But you still have a valid point. There are plenty of Linux users that don't realize how powerless they are, even when GNU, Libre and OpenSource are under their hoods. I'd like to see a show of hands for all the folks that have examined even RMS' GNU version of Firefox to see how well that code respects them as a user. Or is the trust all based on assumption? I won't ever use Windows again, If I have a choice. But at least you know outrightly that you shouldn't trust their products. Which is good for a hand full of people that follow labels around like facts.
Those that trust Linux because it is GNU/Opensource(and sometimes Libre) are almost as bad as those that trust Microsoft because it is a paid for product.
As much as I dislike systemd, it's hardly the same thing at all. IE and Edge are applications that should be no more or less embedded than any other application. Systemd is a system-level component/utility. The equivalent would be demanding that Microsoft take out, say, the event logging system.
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
Or moved to Oracle Linux 6. That also doesn't have the Cry Baby Poettering carp, has Gnome 2, and has security updates for free for quite a while.
You've never been to this site before have you? I mean the claim that people are not /were not up in arms over systemd is down right laughable. Either that or your a YUUUGE Hillary fan and are jumping on the alternative facts bandwagon.
FTFY
There's a big enough contingent unhappy with systemd to fork Debian. Windows users, however, can't fork Windows. With Linux, if you don't like it, you can change it. With Windows, it's a Hobsons choice of whichever Windows variant you like from a choice of 1.
John_Chalisque
We can tell Microsoft to go fork themselves.
Just avoid win 10!
_ _ _ Go for the eyes Boo! GO FOR THE EYES!
Clearly Windows isn't ready for the desktop.
While this isn't a option for most people, the Windows 10 LTSB is what Windows 10 should be.
No Edge.
No Store (this can be sideloaded though).
No Cortana.
Control over updates/reboots
Control over telemetry data.
Hahahaha!!! You really think Trump's DOJ is going to prosecute that case? Wake up.
Nobody calls the kernel "Windows". We call the entire operating system, GUI, system tools, system frameworks, file systems, etc, plus the kernel Windows.
Windows 10 is not the same OS as Windows 7. There are subtle and unsubtle changes in the way it works, some for the better, but some for the worse. Responsiveness on critical widgets such as the Start menu has deteriorated - and the Start menu itself is a complete rewrite, sharing no code whatsoever with the Windows 7 version.
Yes, there are similarities and there's a lot of code that's unchanged or marginally changed, but that doesn't mean someone can't compare one to the other. If you couldn't, Microsoft wouldn't have released it. I mean, what would have been the point?
You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
If it was a complete rewrite then how can their be the exact same bugs in all versions of Windows from XP through 10?
My eyes reflect the stars and a smile lights up my face.
No, but apparently I did disable "get tips tricks and suggestions" like one of the other posters said, though I don't remember doing that and I'm not sure I'd have found that setting at random what with the complete and utter pile of garbage the win10 settings screens are. Or maybe it shipped to me with it off and to her with it on?
A while back some troll here accused me of being an idiot because the windows 10 upgrade installed with "Use accent color" turned off and I complained that it was impossible to tell which window was focused because they were all the same color. Looking now, it appears they renamed that setting to "Use color on title bar" to explain what exactly that setting was supposed to do.
If I have been able to see further than others, it is because I bought a pair of binoculars.