this post was submitted on 04 Oct 2024
566 points (98.1% liked)
Technology
60133 readers
2740 users here now
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
Our Rules
- Follow the lemmy.world rules.
- Only tech related content.
- Be excellent to each another!
- Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
- Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
- Politics threads may be removed.
- No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
- Only approved bots from the list below, to ask if your bot can be added please contact us.
- Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed
Approved Bots
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
I agree with going after the Edge Lords and making things more fair...but I'm guessing Chrome is the most used we browser by a long shot even on windows so the “No platform independent browser can aspire to match Edge's unparalleled distribution advantage on Windows." part feels like users are comfortable stepping over Edge's corpse to download chrome anyway.
load more comments
(8 replies)
As Edge comes pre-installed by default on Windows machines, users must navigate the Microsoft offering in order to download their browser of choice.
What's the actual alternative they want here? That users look up download URLs on other devices and download their browser of choice via command line using ~~cURL~~ Invoke-WebRequest? That ISPs provide browser installers on USB sticks?
Also, it's not like MS is cornering the market on browser share here. Even with this "unfair advantage" they've only scraped together a 5% slice of browser usage.
Basically either offer users a dialog box asking which browser they'd like to use or offer the browsers in the Microsoft Store.
And stop telling me that "The Internet is better using Edge", Microsoft.
IMO edge coming pre-installed isn’t a big deal. But I’d like to be able to uninstall edge and not have Windows periodically try to trick me into setting edge as my default browser again.
For a while when you installed Windows, the first time user setup gave you a choice of popular browsers and it handled the download and install.
Now Microsoft is actively trying to sabotage other browsers with popups and office apps bypassing the default browser setting.
When was that?
They were forced to as the result of an antitrust settlement in 2009, and then the "remedy" expired 5 years later and they ripped it out
https://www.pcworld.com/article/430914/microsoft-kills-eu-browser-choice-screen.html
load more comments
(1 replies)
load more comments
(1 replies)
load more comments
(11 replies)
why go after microsoft.
Go after fucking google.
Chromium is the plague, not Edge.
It's possible to go after both. M$ has some fucked up practices that trick the user into using edge that shouldn't be okay
load more comments
(4 replies)
Isn't Edge also chromium?
Yes, and its a nasty story thats all unofficial cause no one is ever gonna go on the record, at least not for another 10-20 years when it comes out in someones book..
but the short of it is, Edge had its own browser engine, but google kept making changes to youtube and other google sites that broke Edges performance and made it run like dogshit, while leaving chromium based browsers alone.
after many instances of sabotage > microsoft workaround > google sabotage> microsoft workaround. Microsoft finally gave up and remade Edge as a chromium based browser.
load more comments
(1 replies)
Windows is absolutely abusing their position as the dominant OS to push their other products. The number of "no don't do that" messages and pop ups when trying to install chrome on a windows computer is clearly anti-competitive, and the only reason microsoft has been getting away with it is because Edge/etc hasn't achieved enough market share.
Not to forget than when using bing, if you look for words like Firefox or Chrome, you get a large banner saying to use Edge instead. Super shady stuff
This doesn't make that behavior any less scummy, but have you tried using any Google website on a browser that isn't chrome?
Not to mention that Microsoft forces you to use a Microsoft account when you create your account on your home computer which is then automatically logged in to edge and *bing so that they can track and quantize more of every single thing you do on the internet to monetize you
No it doesn't. I just reinstalled Windows 11 pro and I'm running without a Microsoft account.
Edit: I was unfamiliar with how different that is from the home experience. I'm still using Windows 7 keys to install Windows 11 so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ consider me out of the loop.
Oh yeah?
Open edge and search for something. Check in the top right corner and tell me you're not signed into some sort of pseudo-created Microsoft account.
You win.
Well, it is impossible to install W11 Pro without MS account for normal person. Sure tech people can do it after couple seconds of web search, but your average PC user? Nope. No way.
Home versions, which most home users have, force the use of MS accounts. They've patched the bypass tricks that people used before.
Ah. I was unfamiliar with the home version.
Ah. Did not realize this was an issue with home. I can not say I experienced that. Hell, I still use Windows 7 pro keys to activate Windows 11.
Do you know if you could use audit mode to bypass OOBE and get around it? Simply curious.
load more comments
(1 replies)
I do a workaround when installing/setting up Windows on others PCs. Use my dummy MS account -> create local user -> change to admin -> delete out the MS account. Boom, then only the local account is on the PC.
I'm willing to bet you're still ending up in their database. Unless you are using some sort of VPN to first obfuscate your location and then a brand new account that has not been used before, then there's going to be some record of similarity.
When I'm installing Windows 10 or 11, I use the Rufus installer to create a pre-built admin account that I can sign in with.
That's a good point, and a good idea about modifying the installer. I will give this a shot next time I have to do a reinstall. Thanks!
load more comments
(2 replies)
Yup. Teams ignores default browser and opens URLs in Edge. I have to right click copy and open in Firefox. I refuse to be forced to use Edge
There's a setting Teams, under "Files and Links" where you can change it from Edge to Default Browser. Scummy that it works that way, but you can work around it at least (for now anyway).
A letter seen by Reuters, sent by Vivaldi, Waterfox, and Wavebox, and supported by a group of web developers, also supports Opera’s move to take the EC to court over its decision to exclude Microsoft Edge from being subject to the Digital Markets Act (DMA).
OK...
Shouldn't they be fighting Chrome, more than anything? Surely there's a legal avenue for that, though I guess there's a risk of getting deprioritized by Google and basically disappearing.
They're suing because Microsoft got an exclusion from the Digital Markets Act. Google did not.
Suing? It's just a letter
Yeah they can't fight Chrome, they are Chrome.