Imagine using Chrome in 2024.
There's a word for software that does actions without the user's permission or knowledge.
That word is MALWARE
Microsoft Edge is actually good, so I sure hope the team building it isn’t about to resort to more tricks to get Chrome users to use it.
Edge is good compared to IE which was a dumpster fire, and arguably about as bad as Chrome. Both are privacy nightmares and desire nothing more than to harvest your data for ad companies. I trust Google a hair more than I do Microsoft. I don't use Chrome. That should tell you something.
I disagree. Chrome is a simple well designed browser that happens to be run by a company that tries to push things we don't like, such as FLoC.
Edge is full of bloatware and dark patterns. You're probably thinking of the early versions of Edge when none of that crap had been added yet... but trust me it's a very different browser now. In fact it's worse than IE ever was.
Meh. My work gives me the choice of Chrome and Edge. I decided to try edge to get access to bing chat last year, and I've found it to be a pleasant experience compared to chrome. It's got some neat features, and the built in copilot AI can be handy. I haven't missed chrome (or Google for that matter) in the year I've been using edge. It's fine. Still use Firefox on my personal laptop and phone though.
worse than IE ever was
This argument can be made for spying/telemetry, but I don't think anything will compare to how bad the IE user experience was for years. It ran so slowly, and took forever to get features like tabbed internet browsing. It started to get more functional towards the end once it started losing market share, but that was after years of it being complete garbage while having absolute market dominance.
Sell your soul to Microsoft!
YES, please
not now
Linux and Firefox gang rise up.
I only use it in a VM and only for Visual Studio which is only for one class. It does nothing outside of that class
My main OS is Linux Mint
Microsoft is the fucking worst with their trick questions and constant nagging.
They do this because they want you to use Edge which steals search results from other search engines.
How to prevent this: don’t use Chrome.
In this case the problem is MS, they could (or already) do the same thing with Firefox.
So the real fix is not using Windows.
Even better tbh
Or Windows.
Edge re-installing itself after I've manually taken ownership of its files and purged them from the system 6 fucking times is what's going to finally drive me to abandon windows and go full linux.
I just haven't had the time or energy to rebuild my software stack on a still pretty new to me OS. (emby, the Arrs, Ombi, nginx, and more)
I setup a debian machine a while ago and have been slowly trying to get used to it while migrating a few things, but It's hard when windows is so engrained in most of what I've done on pc.
Edge re-installing itself after I’ve manually taken ownership of its files and purged them from the system 6 fucking times is what’s going to finally drive me to abandon windows and go full linux.
This sort of thing is why I finally switched my gaming PC - I was spending a bunch of time fighting to get Windows to do what I wanted that I figured I might as well be doing all that work on Linux.
At least Linux doesn't deliberately fight me. When I have to spend time getting Linux to do something it's because developers haven't gotten to it yet, not because corporate are enforcing their vision of how I'll use my system.
I was spending a bunch of time fighting to get Windows to do what I wanted that I figured I might as well be doing all that work on Linux.
A damn good point.
I really got to get around to telling Microsoft to fornicate themselves with the wide end of a rake...
A lot of us could just stop using that garbage OS.
Problem is there's too much professional software that simply won't run on Linux, things you spend all day in and even if you can get it to run in a sandbox the experience sucks (because it's too resource intensive, otherwise it would get all SaaSy and force you into the cloud), like CAD software, 3D modeling tools, editing...
Monopolistic behavior is monopolistic behavior. MSFT needs a beatdown.
Sometimes the switch is surprisingly seamless, though. Autodesk Maya has an official Linux version, Blender is more than competitive now. For photo and video editing, Krita has become the better Photoshop for me and DaVinci Resolve has a native Linux version as well, with the additional benefit of letting me completely avoid Adobe. The ex-Allegorithmic tools also have Linux support and can be bought on Steam even.
On the other side, I haven't had much success running Clip Studio Paint or Daz 3D and a VM is rather frustrating to use (the lag between pen and screen just feels weird).
On the contrary, there is a lot of professional software that doesn't run on Windows!
plus many USB devices need drivers, and god knows the OEM isn't gonna make them. i.e. steering wheels, stream decks, some audio interfaces. i know there is a software for streamdecks, but i imagine it's not even half of what it could do on windows.
99% of people don't need this kind of software.
I'd be shocked if Edge installed itself and take over Firefox data in my linux install. Impressed, but also very shocked.
The sad part is, knowing the average Windows user, they can probably gain 10 to 20% market share just from people literally not noticing the switch...
guess what, i'm using neither. checkmate.
/lh
I would genuinely like to see Edge open all 848 tabs I have hoarded over 61 Chrome windows. I wonder if it could do it faster than Chrome manages. After rebooting, Chrome reopens, with all my tabs intact, in about 5 minutes. Provided a sanitary shutdown, that is. It takes more like 15 minutes for it to become responsive again after a (rare) crash.
Clearly I have lost control of my life.
And yes, before you get on my case, I am working on switching back to Firefox after using Chrome for the last decade. It just takes a long time to pare down all these tabs.
Is there a benefit you see for having open tabs instead of bookmarks ready to open when needed?
I don't understand the tab hoarder mentality. I can't stand having too many tabs open it makes everyone disorganized and less useful.
My workflow is to open random links and searches in private tabs and then when I'm done with the search I just close the window and they're all gone. I also split subsequt searches up into multiple private windows with a few tabs each so once I find what I need on one search I can close those and have the ones I'm still using ready. If there's something I need to reference later I can move it over to the regular browser window or bookmark it.
Makes it easier to manage and doesn't get out of hand that way.
You're thinking about this too productively. I have forty tabs open because I'll get to it later and every time I see my fifty tabs it's a reminder to get stuff done. Then I close a few tabs, look at the other seventy and feel a sense of accomplishment!
It's not because I have a semi-crippling executive function disorder that I pretend is just a curiosity about the world and a love for learning.
I seem to recall a federal lawsuit about this kind of behavior with Internet Explorer. Does changing the name of the browser magically nullify the original legal settlement?
The difference is IE was the dominant web browser. Despite having a terrible user experience it had the vast majority of the market share due to being the bundled web browser.
Microsoft is absolutely abusing windows market share to push edge, but it hasn't worked (yet) so they're not getting in trouble for it.
From the article: 'So I went to install the same Windows update on a laptop, which actually resulted in it failing and me having to do a system restore. Once the system restore...'
Who needs to continue reading the article before realizing the malware is Windows itself?
So either Linux has effortless, painless updates that never break, or Linux is malware.
Which one is it?
Nice. So user got auto switched from Google's chromium to Microsoft's chromium? That's almost just a skin. More worried about it stealing Firefoxs's tabs. Specially since I like my addons.
Does the user have a gpo that enables the setting? That's what it sounds like to me considering:
I haven’t been able to replicate the behavior on other PCs, but a number of X users replied to my post about this saying they have experienced the same thing in the past.
I'm also not clear if they are saying when they checked the setting was disabled, or if they're saying it was enabled and they don't recall setting it.
Of the 100s (possibly 1000s) of complaints I have about Windows, and Microsoft in general, some dude whose not sure how Edge imported settings is pretty far down on my list. Especially when the claim doesn't come with a before after screenshot, or the ability to reproduce it.
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