“Subtle control of the web platform” is strictly better than the explicit control of the web platform and the web browser space the currently enjoy. Microsoft’s

“Subtle control of the web platform” is strictly better than the explicit control of the web platform and the web browser space the currently enjoy. Microsoft’s IE and Edge together currently have just 10% market share, compared to Chrome’s ~70%. Step 1 to winning back a meaningful amount of control over the web platform is making a browser people actually use. And if in the meanwhile you can win other important battles? Amazing! I feel people don’t analyze this move realistically in the current context, but instead compare it to some imagined magical alternative where we snap our fingers and have a fresh new viable competitor or people just decide to switch away from a browser most people like. Regarding the specific example you gave, I’m fairly certain Microdift’s wrapped Chromium can exclude participation to those lists. And frankly I’d be surprised if they didn’t. Microsoft didn’t sign on Google as an OEM provider of a browser for their OS, they are building their own browser on top of Google’s engine. Im not super worried about Microsoft being bullied, they’re probably the best suited to do something like this in a defensible way.