5 ms·

The ways Microsoft wants to trick users into using edge, using all sorts of dark-patterns, has rapidly increased with the launch of chromium edge. Opening Edge

by Yaina 5y ago

The ways Microsoft wants to trick users into using edge, using all sorts of dark-patterns, has rapidly increased with the launch of chromium edge. Opening Edge on startup, asking in Windows update-screens, putting Edge on the desktop and taskbar, asking to change to Edge when clicking on links, dissuading users when searching for browsers on bing, advertising Edge in the start-menu, it goes on... Chromium Edge is bringing up the worst in Microsoft again...

swiley 5y ago
They got slammed for anti-trust with IE and then noticed Apple got away with even worse on iOS. Now they've doubled down.
- jrsj 5y ago
  Google really started this though. And they didn’t use anti competitive advertising practices to kill IE, they used them to kill Firefox.
  - cyberge99 5y ago
    Firefox is far from dead. I switched back to Firefox from Chrome and it’s been freeing. The extension migration was a pain, but I found almost everything I needed and purged stuff I didn’t.
    - asddubs 5y ago
      i'm a firefox user, but firefox is 2,4% from being dead. that's still a lot of people but dangerously close to the kind of numbers where people stop bothering to test if their websites work in it (if they were even doing it to begin with, let's be honest)
      - midoBB 5y ago
        TBH at least in my part of the woods web devs test for Chrome, Safari and mobile Safari.
        swiley 5y ago
        When I've done web dev the other devs are usually pretty excited to have a Firefox user on the team since they never do any testing with it. Apple killed personal computing and Google/Facebook are killing the open web.
  - dahart 5y ago
    > Google really started this though. I guess you must be young enough to not remember when Google didn’t exist. The anti-trust trial against Microsoft being referred to above began several months before Google was founded. The FTC inquiries into whether MS was abusing a monopoly position with IE began before Sergey Brin even started at Stanford. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Microsoft_Corp.#History https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Microsoft_Cor...
    - jrsj 5y ago
      No I remember that, I was referring to the browser war happening now. The old IE days aren’t even relevant to what’s happening now though. Except maybe to show that the only reason Microsoft even had to fight that case in the first place is that they weren’t lobbying the government as much as they “should” have.
      - dahart 5y ago
        > The old IE days aren’t even relevant to what’s happening now though. Why do you say that? MSFT has been engaging in the same behavior for 30 years, trying to force people to use their browser by bundling the browser and default browsing behaviors into the OS. Why does this feel any different than what was happening in 1995? It seems exactly the same to me. Google brought new competition into the middle of an ongoing browser war, and they also do pushy things to nudge people toward their browser. But I don’t see the line you’re trying to draw.
        jrsj 5y ago
        Because before Google got involved, an independent third party was actually winning & Microsoft had no chance of regaining dominance in that space.
  - jussij 5y ago
    Some people inside Google's where certainly trying to kill off IE: Former Google engineer reveals the secret YouTube plot to kill Internet Explorer 6 https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/4/18529381/google-youtube-internet-explorer-6-kill-plot-engineer https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/4/18529381/google-youtube-in...
    - kalleboo 5y ago
      To be fair, by this time IE was up to IE 8 and even Microsoft was trying to kill off IE 6.
  - skinkestek 5y ago
    Google started it this time. As was mentioned the other day: take the time to report Chrome to relevant authorities were you live.
- gmueckl 5y ago
  MS managed to kill established competition on their OS platform with their behavior around IE. Apple doesn't allow competing browser engines on iOS in the first place, so this gives them a kind of a free pass on that one. They could be on the hook for abusing their iOS gatekeeper status against other types of apps, though.
jrsj 5y ago
What choice do they have when Google pushes Chrome aggressively on every website they own if you visit it on any other browser?
- skohan 5y ago
  Does this happen? I have been using Firefox on macOS for years and I don't recall running into this
A4ET8a8uTh0 5y ago
I kinda get it. MS is looking at other tech companies that do this without any backlash and keeps wondering why they are singled out. If you ignore their history it is not a completely meritless line of thought. Why shouldn't they try if evey other company gets away woth it?
- skohan 5y ago
  Maybe because it's an operating system you pay for, and it's more aggressive than competitors. > MS is looking at other tech companies that do this without any backlash and keeps wondering why they are singled out ... Why shouldn't they try if evey other company gets away woth it? Since when is MS late to the party on this one? They lost a huge anti-trust action for privileging their own browser decades ago. If anything MS invented this. on a side note, it does not make sense to anthropomorphize a corporation, and a corporation does not deserve consideration on fairness grounds.
  - A4ET8a8uTh0 5y ago
    I disagree. I do apologize since the language I used may have been a little too much of a mental shortcut, but it was not intended as such. I am not arguing fairness. I am arguing that process and laws should apply and be applied the same way for all participants. I do not think that is such a radical idea. Frankly, we would all benefit, if justice was truly blind ( long term ).
    - skohan 5y ago
      Is anyone arguing that they shouldn't? This is an article about Microsoft's bad behavior; I'm not sure how whataboutism re competitors is relevant here.
cpeterso 5y ago
A recent Windows update added a large “News and Interests” widget to the taskbar. Clicking any of the news headlines or weather links in the widget opens a web page in Edge, even if your default browser is set to something else. Microsoft is pushing Edge anywhere they can.

by Yaina 5y ago

swiley 5y ago

They got slammed for anti-trust with IE and then noticed Apple got away with even worse on iOS. Now they've doubled down.

jrsj 5y ago
Google really started this though. And they didn’t use anti competitive advertising practices to kill IE, they used them to kill Firefox.
- cyberge99 5y ago
  Firefox is far from dead. I switched back to Firefox from Chrome and it’s been freeing. The extension migration was a pain, but I found almost everything I needed and purged stuff I didn’t.
  - asddubs 5y ago
    i'm a firefox user, but firefox is 2,4% from being dead. that's still a lot of people but dangerously close to the kind of numbers where people stop bothering to test if their websites work in it (if they were even doing it to begin with, let's be honest)
    - midoBB 5y ago
      TBH at least in my part of the woods web devs test for Chrome, Safari and mobile Safari.
      - swiley 5y ago
        When I've done web dev the other devs are usually pretty excited to have a Firefox user on the team since they never do any testing with it. Apple killed personal computing and Google/Facebook are killing the open web.
- dahart 5y ago
  > Google really started this though. I guess you must be young enough to not remember when Google didn’t exist. The anti-trust trial against Microsoft being referred to above began several months before Google was founded. The FTC inquiries into whether MS was abusing a monopoly position with IE began before Sergey Brin even started at Stanford. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Microsoft_Corp.#History https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Microsoft_Cor...
  - jrsj 5y ago
    No I remember that, I was referring to the browser war happening now. The old IE days aren’t even relevant to what’s happening now though. Except maybe to show that the only reason Microsoft even had to fight that case in the first place is that they weren’t lobbying the government as much as they “should” have.
    - dahart 5y ago
      > The old IE days aren’t even relevant to what’s happening now though. Why do you say that? MSFT has been engaging in the same behavior for 30 years, trying to force people to use their browser by bundling the browser and default browsing behaviors into the OS. Why does this feel any different than what was happening in 1995? It seems exactly the same to me. Google brought new competition into the middle of an ongoing browser war, and they also do pushy things to nudge people toward their browser. But I don’t see the line you’re trying to draw.
      - jrsj 5y ago
        Because before Google got involved, an independent third party was actually winning & Microsoft had no chance of regaining dominance in that space.
- jussij 5y ago
  Some people inside Google's where certainly trying to kill off IE: Former Google engineer reveals the secret YouTube plot to kill Internet Explorer 6 https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/4/18529381/google-youtube-internet-explorer-6-kill-plot-engineer https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/4/18529381/google-youtube-in...
  - kalleboo 5y ago
    To be fair, by this time IE was up to IE 8 and even Microsoft was trying to kill off IE 6.
- skinkestek 5y ago
  Google started it this time. As was mentioned the other day: take the time to report Chrome to relevant authorities were you live.
gmueckl 5y ago
MS managed to kill established competition on their OS platform with their behavior around IE. Apple doesn't allow competing browser engines on iOS in the first place, so this gives them a kind of a free pass on that one. They could be on the hook for abusing their iOS gatekeeper status against other types of apps, though.

jrsj 5y ago

What choice do they have when Google pushes Chrome aggressively on every website they own if you visit it on any other browser?

skohan 5y ago
Does this happen? I have been using Firefox on macOS for years and I don't recall running into this

A4ET8a8uTh0 5y ago

I kinda get it. MS is looking at other tech companies that do this without any backlash and keeps wondering why they are singled out. If you ignore their history it is not a completely meritless line of thought. Why shouldn't they try if evey other company gets away woth it?

skohan 5y ago
Maybe because it's an operating system you pay for, and it's more aggressive than competitors. > MS is looking at other tech companies that do this without any backlash and keeps wondering why they are singled out ... Why shouldn't they try if evey other company gets away woth it? Since when is MS late to the party on this one? They lost a huge anti-trust action for privileging their own browser decades ago. If anything MS invented this. on a side note, it does not make sense to anthropomorphize a corporation, and a corporation does not deserve consideration on fairness grounds.
- A4ET8a8uTh0 5y ago
  I disagree. I do apologize since the language I used may have been a little too much of a mental shortcut, but it was not intended as such. I am not arguing fairness. I am arguing that process and laws should apply and be applied the same way for all participants. I do not think that is such a radical idea. Frankly, we would all benefit, if justice was truly blind ( long term ).
  - skohan 5y ago
    Is anyone arguing that they shouldn't? This is an article about Microsoft's bad behavior; I'm not sure how whataboutism re competitors is relevant here.

cpeterso 5y ago

A recent Windows update added a large “News and Interests” widget to the taskbar. Clicking any of the news headlines or weather links in the widget opens a web page in Edge, even if your default browser is set to something else. Microsoft is pushing Edge anywhere they can.