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> The one thing that is unique about the [New Tab Page] in the new Edge is that it's actually an online website > [The New Tab Page] is actually a higher privi
by ChrisSD 7y ago
> The one thing that is unique about the [New Tab Page] in the new Edge is that it's actually an online website
> [The New Tab Page] is actually a higher privileged page.
This combination sounds risky no matter how you slice it. Amongst other things, your user's browser security now depends on the security of your user facing web site.
- ocdtrekkie 7y agoAnother scary thing about Edge I hope they choose to amend in the future: Edge "stories" on the new tab page often include Outbrain/Taboola "stories". This means you can actually be one-click from launching Edge to a Windows support scam popup page. I originally looked at Edge as a very secure browser choice until I realized Microsoft's zeal for ad revenue meant it literally came with malicious links built-in.
- geofft 7y agoHm, how much would it cost to buy a "Experts Say This Software Is More Effective Than Antivirus" ad on the Edge new tab page that encourages you to download Chrome?
- ocdtrekkie 7y agoThat would just be another example of someone peddling malware from the Edge New Tab page...
- giancarlostoro 7y agoI would be inclined to say some variant of adware moreso than malware.
- rgoulter 7y agoRelated: https://slatestarcodex.com/2019/03/04/prospiracy-theories/ https://slatestarcodex.com/2019/03/04/prospiracy-theories/
- technion 7y agoIronically, this is one of the first ads I saw when I tried the default Edge page: https://imgur.com/a/TY8CqK2 https://imgur.com/a/TY8CqK2 Text: "A browser that's 200% faster than Chrome". It's an ad for Brave.
- userbinator 7y agoI'm one of those who think that if you open a new tab or window, the only thing it should show is a blank page with the address bar focused, but I'm probably in the minority...
- war1025 7y agoThat is what I'd prefer as well. I thought Firefox had taken away the ability to set the new tab page to `about:blank` but I just checked and it seems that it does direct to there now. For a while the best I could do was to turn off all the widgets on their default "home" screen.
- bobbylarrybobby 7y agoSafari does that but can also show your (locally stored) bookmarks/favorites, which is a handy addition
- kerng 7y agoTotally agree, the first thing i always do is to change all those default settings to have a more slick setup. A easy setup option to achieve that would be neat. This applies to Firefox also unfortunately...
- jfk13 7y agoFirefox lets you choose "Blank Page" for new windows and tabs in about:preferences#home -- isn't that easy enough?
- kerng 7y agoEven then I still had to remove the Firefox Home Content features, like Highlights, Top Sites, and a few others... maybe a clean & slick checkbox during setup could achieve this.
- jfk13 7y agoEven after choosing Blank Page in both the "Homepage and new windows" and "New tabs" settings? After setting both of those to blank, I'm not seeing any of the Home content here, without needing to explicitly uncheck the various categories within it.
- bobince 7y agoAt least being online means they can fix it quickly. (Until the next marketing update that adds a vulnerable script, natch.) Back in the IE5 days they had similar bugs in res:// (DLL resource) pages, running in the then-highly-privileged My Computer Zone. Took years of reporting the same kind of crap before they finally deprivileged it. New browser, new code base, new devs... all the old bugs are new again.