MS Edge browser wants really hard to stay

Look at that shit! Before it was here are your two browsers choose! Now it’s…how about for the letter A? Suppose a website starts with an A, would you choose Edge to be your default browser?.. then you choose chrome or Firefox, and when you click on a link Edge Pops up with some shit like…Are you really sure you wanna use Firefox to view websites that start with the letter A?

Fuck Microsoft! Give us a fucking break you assholes! You are this turd of a company that is just stuck to company’s assholes and that’s the only reason any fly will ever touch your software.

VantaBrandon,

RIP antitrust laws

helenslunch,

For this example, I’m using Google Chrome

So you wrote this whole article about how to switch to the only browser worse than Edge. Well done.

Gestrid,

I just set my default browser and install MSEdgeRedirect. It’s like EdgeDeflector, except it’s not been abandoned. Its latest version even “grounds CoPilot”, as the dev so nicely put it.

StraightArrow,

I can’t believe Micro$oft is still trying to pull this shit after it was fined for this in the European Union.

Hopefully, they’ll fine them again, because this is unacceptable.

No, I don’t use Windows, but people who use it and are less tech savvy should not be jumping through so many hoops to make the switch

AWittyUsername,

Apple is almost as bad with Safari on MacOs and you can’t even really change the browser on IOS. But everyone shits on Microsoft.

EddieTee77,

Thank you! I don’t like either approach but I hate that only one gets this much flack

bitwolf,

Android is getting there too You have to jump through a lot of hoops not to use Chrome

QuaternionsRock,

I think the reason for the dichotomy is their purported motivation for doing so.

I say “purported” because I know Lemmy has a bone to pick with Apple’s privacy claims, and I would prefer to gracefully avoid it, but I will say that, regardless of the extent to which Apple collects user data, it is easy to ensure that they aren’t hyper-aggressively monetizing it.

tester1121,

You can change the default browser, but it doesn’t matter since all of them are forced to use Apple’s WebKit.

AWittyUsername,

Exactly my point. Pretty much just a different skin

uriel238,
@uriel238@lemmy.blahaj.zone avatar

Naggy advertising pop-ups and forced installs vastly increased resistance to Windows 10. So I don’t get how Microsoft doesn’t know it would scare users away from Edge.

Giving marketing the benefit of the doubt, I’d blame executive management for the aggressive push. They’re the ones who push for draconian DRM and crunching based on their feelings.

Excrubulent,
@Excrubulent@slrpnk.net avatar

Yeah, it’s baffling that they don’t learn these lessons, but these kinds of corporations already exist to exploit customers by witholding their products until money is exchanged - in fact they have whole departments dedicated to preventing piracy - so the general lesson of “don’t enshittify your product to attempt to exploit customers” is sort of an existential threat to them.

So they must avoid the lesson, and they do that by replicating that same exploitation relationship internally with their employees, creating a low-information environment where the actual creators of the product cannot be honest with management about what the product needs, and customer service can’t relay the feedback they get from customers. Any information that does get to management, they are free to ignore. Every command flows top down, just like the money flows bottom up.

mojo,

Their design philosophy is so bad. They’ve made probably the most bloated web browser in existence. No wonder people go to Chrome, it doesn’t have 90% of the useless clutter.

smileyhead,

Some may call this malware?

imgprojts,

I would!

HurlingDurling,

Interestingly, if you install Chrome or Firefox, you won’t see them as choices. But if you install the Brave browser, you will see it as an option — and if you select that, then whenever you click on a news link in the Widget pane, it will come up in Brave.

Fick everything about this

markr,

So I’m not a big fan of edge, but the addition of their chatgpt search assist to edge has made me start using it instead of google’s horrible shit infested search. At least for tech stuff there is no comparison.

imgprojts,

Try Perplexity.AI It can search the web.

TimeSquirrel,
@TimeSquirrel@kbin.social avatar

Did you guys know you can run Edge on Linux natively? I installed it for shits and giggles once before throwing up and apt purging that shit as fast as I could.

Oh, you can run VS Code as well, but I think that IDE is actually kinda useful. At least for the embedded PlatformIO shit I do. If there's another IDE with that sort of integration as well as Github, then I'm willing to try it.

Stupidmanager,

VSCodium- all of the perks, None of the telemetry tracking. Minimal tweaks to a config file lets you use the same plugins that “only” work in VSCode.

Sabata11792,
@Sabata11792@kbin.social avatar

For a breif moment, you were the entire user base on Linux.

Treczoks,

The easiest way to get out of this Edge shit is to just replace Windows completely.

gedaliyah,

I’ll be honest, there was a time when Edge was a really nice browser. Probably the best of the chromium browsers. It had an excellent reader mode, impeccable PDF viewer, and a few small quality of life tweaks that actually improved shopping, privacy, Etc. But then Microsoft did what Microsoft does and filled it with bloat, needless features, an unclosable assistant, and ever more aggressive tracking.

In a year, they’ll abandon it and rebrand it the new Bing browser, and the cycle repeats

ZeroCool, (edited )
@ZeroCool@feddit.ch avatar

Yeah, I’m a browser nerd. I love seeing what’s out there, testing different features, etc. So I’m usually jumping between two browsers in addition to my daily driver at any given time. I used Edge as a secondary browser for a few months when the MacOS beta became available and as far as performance is concerned it was a legitimately good browser. You’re also right, it had some nice features of its own that made it worthwhile as a Chrome alternative (assuming the obvious privacy issues were not a concern for someone, it was at least a decent lateral option to consider.)

By the time I eventually got around to revisiting Edge recently I was disappointed to find they’ve made an absolute mess of it. It’s the most bloated piece of crap on the market.

Thassodar,

I only started using Edge because people were saying it was the only way to get true HD on Netflix. Now it’s a secondary browser, and I can’t say I like it much.

PhreakyByNature,

Have you tried Thorium? I’ve heard about it but not tried it.

fernandofig,
@fernandofig@reddthat.com avatar

Not the guy you’re replying to, but I have been using Thorium for the past couple of weeks. It’s pretty nice, kinda like what Edge was before going to shit for the past year or so. But being a Chromium browser, it eventually will be hit with the ManifestV2-no-more hammer. The maintainer said the best he’ll be able to do is use some patches to keep ManifestV2 active through enterprise group policies, but it’s expected google will eventually remove the ManifestV2 code entirely, at which point he said he’s not going to be able to maintain a fork to keep ManifestV2 in.

I dislike Brave for some of its sketchyness in the past, and the other Chromium forks haven’t made clear guidelines on what they’re going to do when ManifestV3 is made the default, so I’m bracing because I think I’m going to be forced to go back to Firefox because of AdBlock shenanigans.

PhreakyByNature,

uBlock Origins should still be fine for me because I barely allow sites on a permanent basis (temp usually). And it just means more frequent extension updates rather than background filter list updates happening daily. I only really use Chrome Portable for one laptop. My main home desktop PC is running Firefox with Chrome and Edge as fallbacks if some sites struggle.

netchami,

Firefox has a really nice reader mode, it will soon get a much better PDF viewer and it doesn’t come with much bloat. You can also use LibreWolf to fully minimize bloat in Firefox and enjoy the additional privacy benefits.

optissima,

I love your combos in Melee

gedaliyah,

That’s why I switched back to Firefox. In the end, I always switch back to Firefox.

long_chicken_boat,

PDFs in web browsers shouldn’t be a thing.

crusty,

Why not?

long_chicken_boat,

Security and Resources.

they are yet another attack surface for vulnerabilities. Modern browsers are super heavy on resources. I don’t want to open a bloated browser to view a PDF, thanks.

bitwolf,

If windows had a half decent PDF viewer like every other platform we wouldn’t need PDF.js

MonkderZweite,

there was a time when Edge was a really nice browser. Probably the best of the chromium browsers.

Except the tracking bits. Like Chrome, but worse.

Excrubulent,
@Excrubulent@slrpnk.net avatar

It’s funny that a lot of this is people with bullshit jobs trying to justify their existence. A company this big gets bloated internally with staff - especially middle management - that will manipulate information to prevent themselves from becoming redundant, so they will insist that their specific project is super important and they absolutely need every engineer working for them, because their prestige and pay are connected to how many people they manage. So then your software fills up with useless junk until the problem gets so bad it can’t be ignored. There’s a big internal shake-up and products get rebranded but most of the organisational bloat remains, so the cycle starts again.

imgprojts,

You know, there was a time when people used to go to sears for the good stuff and to Kmart too. Then they screwed up big enough among their competition and now there may be like one or two of those places still open somewhere behind a MacDonalds on a refurbished MatCo truck that used to be a Taco truck too.

I can’t wait for the day Microsoft is finally just some shitty ass UPS truck painted over with their logo still showing a little and three guys in it repairing the last known laptops to ever run windows. I’d adopt a dog just to walk him by and let him pee on the tires.

Microsoft, you’ve done everyone wrong too many times one last time.

Kualk,

Linux all the way.

Windows is only on kid’s computers. Because they need roblox and generally games run better on windows.

Horst_Voller,

Most stuff on Steam runs very well these days. Anti-Cheat and DRM are the main reasons stuff doesn’t run.

TheGrandNagus,

I’m as pro Linux as they come, using windows for me makes me want to bash my head against the wall because I feel like I’m constantly battling my PC, it’s awful to use IMO. But this is just silly.

Windows is only on kids computers? Windows is on the majority of computers. ~70% of them.

Linux is on 7-8% of them, half of which is ChromeOS, which funny enough probably has a higher proportion of child users than Windows, given its popularity in schools and as a cheap device for kids.

The overall amount of kids on Windows and Linux probably isn’t very different.

And if you think kids are the only people who do PC gaming then you’re wrong there too lol

520,

I think you misunderstood. Windows is only on the kid's computers in their household.

Kualk,

That’s right. I should have been clearer.

It is not easy when your kids want to play Roblox with friends and Roblox only runs Windows.

Yes, I could have tried proton, but I don’t want to deal with issues. I tried running windows only games on linux. The user experience is far from ideal. More frequent crashes, other issues.

These days kid’s download free games they want. I could not have that on Linux.

treefrog,

I have Linux on my desktop but still use Windows on my laptop for some classes required for my degree.

Additionally, my partner uses software for her work that isn’t supported on Linux. And there’s not really a Linux alternative that would work because she needs file compatibility with other people in her career field.

So no, it’s not just for kids playing Roblox. It’s also for people that have to interact with the proprietary OS space when Linux alternatives won’t or can’t.

optissima,

Which software is it?

auf,

I agree we should use Linux instead of Windows, but some softwares only work on Windows (mostly games) so…

netchami,

You can run a Windows VM with KVM and pass through your GPU for Gaming or other GPU-intensive tasks. It works surprisingly well.

Kualk,

Can you drop a link? It is best if it is Arch linux link. Thanks.

netchami,

wiki.archlinux.org/…/PCI_passthrough_via_OVMF

kurcatovium,

To be honest it’s quite PITA to make it work this way. I chose to not play games that don’t work on Linux at all.

netchami,

It took me like 3 hours, and if I had realized that I need to enable IOMMU in the BIOS it would have been 15 minutes.

averyfalken,

I do all my gaming on Linux at this point. If you don’t play games with invasive anti cheat and even then some of those work now

Wodge,
@Wodge@lemmy.world avatar

wInDoWs bAd hUrRdUrR

SkyeStarfall,

It is, and it won’t get better. Windows is very much in the process of enshittification.

Wodge,
@Wodge@lemmy.world avatar

Especially since it’s only used by kids playing roblox.

Reptorian,

I’m a Windows user (not out of choice), there’s no case for recommending Windows if it weren’t for the softwares requirement.

netchami,

Based Linux runs almost the entire web while cringe Windows is used to play fancy video games

DirkMcCallahan,

You want us to use Edge? Then stop sucking, and respect our privacy. Oh, wait…that’s the antithesis of Microsoft’s philosophy.

Kissaki, (edited )
@Kissaki@feddit.de avatar

Do you consider Edge to be worse than Chrome?

/edit: I asked because they said “You want us to use Edge” when evidently many people do use Chrome, and I don’t see Edge being noticeably worse than Chrome.

RGB3x3,

It was at least running its own engine until a couple years ago. But now, you may as well use chrome.

But don’t use chrome. Use Firefox.

Gestrid,

Wasn’t its engine basically just an updated Internet Explorer engine, though?

Zeth0s,

It is chrome with a different tracking system

MostlyHarmless,

It’s chrome without Google’s ad “privacy” bullshit.

Zeth0s,

It has Microsoft’s one, tough. It isn’t different

MostlyHarmless,

It is different. Chrome automatically opted US users into their new “topics” advertising feature which allows Google to use your browser history to assign topics of interest to you and use it to deliver targeted adverts at you.

forbes.com/…/new-google-chrome-targeted-ad-tracki…

Zeth0s,

A wolkswagen golf and a jeep renegade are 2 different cars, but they are still cars…

If chrome is a blue jeep renegade, edge is a green jeep renegade, with a GM logo and a different gps system

MostlyHarmless,

Are suggesting that nobody should use any web browsers because they are all web browsers?

Zeth0s,

No, I am saying that edge is literally chrome with a different logo and a tracking system that aggregates and sends the same type of data to a different server (a MS server).

If someone feels like chrome is a bad browser, they should use Firefox, which isn’t Chrome

MostlyHarmless,

I don’t disagree about Firefox, but if someone has to use a chromium based browser, Edge is far better than Google Chrome

Zeth0s,

Tastes… I use both at work and I don’t see a difference.

What one should understand is that by using edge they cannot really complain about Google gathering their data. Edge does the same and send them to a different recipient

kurcatovium,

If someone needs to use chromium based, why not chromium? Ungoogled chromium? Potentialy brave? There are plenty options and Chrome with Edge ties for the last place.

MostlyHarmless, (edited )

Brave? The browser embedding crypto wallets and redirecting urls through affiliate links?

It’s also besides the point. The point is Chrome is one of the worst and using Edge to download Chrome is like trading tobacco for meth and saying “at least I’m not smoking”

kurcatovium,

That’s why I said “potentially”. And even if all this is true, it’s still better than chrome or edge privacy nightmares…

King4408,

It is chrome, but bloated with microsoft crap.

netchami,

Both absolutely suck. Use Firefox or LibreWolf, Mull is a great option on Android!

BearOfaTime,

And Google’s, Apples, etc, etc.

Mind, I’m not saying that to excuse any of them.

At least at one time MS “produced” (that is to say, acquired) some really great software (Office 4.2 was a massive game changer). But they couldn’t wait for everyone to be always connected to implement their telemetry game (which they were actively developing in the mid 90’s).

aelwero,

Maybe someone should sue them for overly tight integration of their browser into their os…

Might work, I mean, it worked once before, lol

harry315,

Apple standing on the side: 👀

Gestrid,

Apple got its own EU internet browser ruling to deal with recently: www.theregister.com/2023/…/apple_safari_browser/

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