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Microsoft is Interrupting Chrome and Firefox Installations To Promote Its Edge Browser in the Newest Windows 10 Build (betanews.com)

Posted by msmash on from the how-about-that dept.

An anonymous reader shares a report: If you open Edge and search for "Chrome" or "Firefox" using Bing, Edge's default search engine, you'll be presented with a massive banner informing you that "Microsoft Edge is the faster, safer browser on Windows 10 and is already installed on your PC." Four boxes below then show you how Edge lets you browse longer, and faster, offers built-in protection and built-in assistance. If that doesn't stop you, then Microsoft has a new, much nastier trick up its sleeve -- when you go to install Firefox or Chrome it intercepts the action and pops up a window promoting Edge with the same line about how its browser is faster and safer. It then gives you a blue button to click to open Edge, or a grey one you can click to install the browser you actually want to use. Oh, and this window will keep appearing, unless you go into Settings and stop Windows 10 from offering you app "recommendations."
UPDATE (9/15/18): "After massive backlash by users against this move, Microsoft has finally decided to eliminate the warning message," reports Neowin.

Further reading: Creator of Opera Says Google Deliberately Undermined His New Vivaldi Web Browser.

7 of 234 comments (clear)

  1. Whooptie doo by emho24 · · Score: 4, Informative

    Chrome does the same thing when you open IE/Edge and navigate to google.com.

    --
    You must gather your party before venturing forth.
    1. Re:Whooptie doo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      Yes that is annoying. However, even after bypassing all that

      It then gives you a blue button to click to open Edge, or a grey one you can click to install the browser you actually want to use.

      That's a new low.

    2. Re: Whooptie doo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      Windows is Microsoft's product. They can build into it what they want, especially since they don't have a monopoly anymore.

      Err, actually they still do have monopoly. Many software used in many big companies can be run under Windows only. Of course, you could run a VM Windows, that still doesn't invalidate how low they did here.

    3. Re:Whooptie doo by anegg · · Score: 4, Informative

      Try creating a "local" account on a Windows 10 PC (Windows 10 Pro). First, the O/S automatically tries to have you create a "Microsoft" account. Next, after you have figured out where the option to create a local account is hiding and click the button to create a local account, the O/S presents a second "create account" dialog box to create a "Microsoft" account, with a blue glowing "Yes" button (default action) and a grey "No" button. To create the local account, you have to select the non-default "No" even though you just specified that you wanted to create a local account. How on earth a vendor thinks that this kind of manipulative behavior against the users of their product is ok is beyond me.

  2. Re:Is it true or Fake information? by drinkypoo · · Score: 4, Informative

    Is Edge really faster/better/cheaper? Or is that statement fake propaganda?

    It's fake. Edge is faster at some things, but not at all things. It's provably not better. And they both cost $0 so it's not cheaper.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  3. Re:Uninstall Windows 10, install Linux by jareth-0205 · · Score: 3, Informative

    Problem solved.

    2. Give up games and a whole host of creativity / specialist software that isn't available for Linux. I love Linux, but no, problem not fucking solved.

    You have a choice of only 2 operating systems for generic PCs, and that is hardly a healthy place to exercise your power as a consumer.

  4. The consent decree expired in 2011 by Solandri · · Score: 4, Informative

    The consent decree shackling Microsoft after the IE bundling case expired in 2011. At the time it was made, a lot of us complained about it only lasting 9 years, when a similar consent decree against IBM was in place for 40 years.

    Anyhow, bottom line is that stopping Microsoft's behavior this time around will require a new DoJ investigation, which if history is any guide will take more than a decade. Given the history, hopefully it'll be done quickly enough or the judges will be willing to grant restraining orders to prevent Edge's market share rising up to 90% as IE did.

    I still maintain that the best solution back in the 1990s would've been to break apart Microsoft into two companies - an OS company and an applications company. Then there would've been no reason for the OS (Windows) to favor Edge or Office (ever notice a trial starter version comes with Win 10?) or any other Microsoft application.