Microsoft Edge Is Trying To Forcefully Get Your Chrome Tabs Again (theverge.com) 40
A new update is rolling out that automatically starts Microsoft's Edge browser and prompts users to import their Chrome tabs -- a move that has sparked criticism over its invasive tactics to encourage Edge adoption. The Verge's Tom Warren reports: My colleague Richard Lawler noticed that Edge started automatically on his PC last week at boot and offered up a new prompt to "enhance your browsing experience." The pop-up has a "bring over your data from other browsers regularly" option ticked by default, and encourages people to confirm and continue with a big blue button. If you want to dismiss this prompt there's a tiny white X button that looks similar to the sparkles Microsoft is using in the background of the prompt.
If you simply hit confirm and continue then Microsoft Edge will import your Chrome data and continually import your tabs if you have Chrome set as default. The prompt seems to mainly appear on PCs with Chrome installed, suggesting that Microsoft is once again targeting Chrome users. Microsoft confirmed the new "feature" to The Verge. "This is a notification giving people the choice to import data from other browsers," explains Microsoft spokesperson Caitlin Roulston. "There is an option to turn it off."
If you simply hit confirm and continue then Microsoft Edge will import your Chrome data and continually import your tabs if you have Chrome set as default. The prompt seems to mainly appear on PCs with Chrome installed, suggesting that Microsoft is once again targeting Chrome users. Microsoft confirmed the new "feature" to The Verge. "This is a notification giving people the choice to import data from other browsers," explains Microsoft spokesperson Caitlin Roulston. "There is an option to turn it off."
that would be a problem... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
At this time, it's nothing but malware. And I'm not just maliciously joking:
Back in the '00s, malware was usually defined as "adware or spyware". When you had "utilities" like Bonzi Buddy send your data to the mothership, display ads, and annoy you with tacky images as well, it was something considered by users to be a major problem. Today, Windows, Apple, and Android have such functionality baked into the very OS...
Dark Patterns again from Microsoft (Score:2)
And do the bookmarks 'imported' from Chrome get stored in Microsoft's cloud for AI training purposes?
Re: (Score:2)
Don't worry, there is a Linux version of Edge! I would love to know what their user numbers are like.
Option (Score:5, Insightful)
The option can be found in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying 'Beware of the Leopard.”
Re: (Score:2)
Bing is always number 2.
So now, when we go that bathroom, it is because "I have to take a bing."
Re: (Score:3)
The option can be found in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying 'Beware of the Leopard.”
If you want to dismiss this prompt there's a tiny white X button that looks similar to the sparkles Microsoft is using in the background of the prompt.
Given this bullshit tactic, it’s going to take a lot more than an H2G2 reference to keep Microsoft out of anti-trust court.
Again.
Again? (Score:3)
Re: (Score:3)
It very much is. Time for a huge fine. These criminal fucks need to be put in their place.
Re: (Score:2)
Yeah, holding corporations accountable isn't a thing we're going to be doing for the next few years...
Re: (Score:2)
There is still the EU.
Re: (Score:3)
No. That agreement expired in 2011.
Re: (Score:2)
And there are no follow-on parole requirements either. Total overall punishment to Microsoft over time for illegal activities is effectively zero.
Edge and Windows (Score:1)
These products are increasingly feeling like 90's Microsoft. Dark patterns, advertisements, and stuff like this are really making me consider switching to Linux.
I just imagine they are struggling when Azure has 4x the revenue and Windows/Edge have no consumer relevance beyond being "the default" or "i need games" -- that nobody wants to engage with their new features (even when they're not bad) so they resort to stuff like this.
Re: Edge and Windows (Score:2)
Take control of your OS and browser (Score:2, Insightful)
All the machines I use are and have been Linux for decades, so my OS doesn't fight to take control over my decisions/life/privacy. If I were forced to use MS-Windows, I would already be angry, and stunts like that would make me even angrier.
But one thing to try might be to install and use Firefox? I bet MS will ignore that (at least for now). And it has the added bonus of not giving anywhere near as much power to MS and Google (Edge) or just Google (Chrom*).
Cancel (Score:2)
If you want to dismiss this prompt there's a tiny white X button
Can you kill Edge using the Windows Process Explorer? I think I'd trust that a lot more than the options Microsoft presented me with.
Re: Cancel (Score:3)
Windows is spyware. (Score:2, Interesting)
Re: (Score:2)
Windows is spyware.
Sorry. Not edgy enough for the kids these days. Besides, spying is soooo Boomer.
I’m thinking more like “fuckware”. As in you should have read the fuck out of the EULA so you’re a-ware.
Meanwhile their tabs are stupid (Score:2, Interesting)
The tabs are in the title bar and don't go all the way to the top of the screen, so what works great in Chrome or Firefox (just slapping the pointer to the very top) causes problems with accidentally moving the browser window in Edge.
Microsoft is bad at everything including copying Chrome. Their one and only talent is antitrust.
Re: (Score:2)
I'm a little confused in that you seem to be saying the opposite of what's true: on my Windows machine, fully updated, Edge and Firefox tabs go to the very top (firefox visually doesn't look like it but from a click perspective they do), while Chrome does not. If you intend to drag a window, then that's easier on Chrome and harder on Firefox and Edge where you might accidentally drag a tab. If you intend to drag a tab, then that's easier on Edge and Firefox and harder on CHrome where you might accidental
Re: (Score:2)
You're pretty confused, all right. I've got the Windows machine right here, and how I described it is how it "works". I scarcely use Chrome (I use it only for one webapp) but that was enough to notice that Chrome gets it right, and Edge doesn't. We're not allowed to use the password manager in Chrome, only the one in Edge, so I'm still using Edge for the bulk of work. We have to deal with really trash SSO and multiple sites so there are a lot of logins. And those sites all have stupid password change requir
Re: (Score:2)
The conversation has moved on but since I happened to catch your reply, here's a screenshot that proves it works how I say:
https://imgur.com/a/z2Z8uws [imgur.com]
I can't easily show you where my mouse is to demonstrate that the click targets match the visuals I'm providing or that Chrome is really maximized there since I cropped out the top-right window controls, but...it works the way I say. I've got multiple Windows machines and how I describe it is how it works. My best faith interpretation is maybe you have an un
Re: (Score:2)
Incidentally this only happens when the window is maximised. They actually copied Chrome properly for a normal window and the taps don't go to the top. Someone went out of their way to make the behavour different when the window is maximised. I actually see this as a good thing. Not every fucking browser should be Chrome. Yeah Edge is ballsed up and the interface is a step backwards, but they get proper bonus points for not copying Chrome from me.
Maybe this is just a conspiracy to get people to enable verti
Re: (Score:2)
Incidentally this only happens when the window is maximised.
Well, kinda. It also happens when you drag the window into the upper right or left corner and it's quarter-maximized, which is how I use the system because my monitor is a 42.5" 4k TV. I tried multiple monitors multiple times, the only place it ever worked right was Classic MacOS. On every other platform I've tried it on (which admittedly doesn't include modern Mac OS) it has caused some kind of problem.
Also to be fair, window management doesn't work right even on one monitor on Windows, especially with Off
You are becoming the product (Score:2)
In case you haven't noticed yet, Microsoft is slowing turning their customers into products, while at the same time milking them dry with subscriptions.
Solution (Score:2)
apt remove ms-edge-browser
I don't use either (Score:2)
I mostly use Firefox, and the default browser is set to Basilisk
Who knew! (Score:2)
But, but (Score:2)
MS (Score:2)
Every dirty tactic, no matter how small and inconsequential, makes me not use this junk even more and be put off from it for decades to come.
Hell, I'm still "punishing" Edge from back was it wasn't Chrome, and still holding MS responsible for the mistakes of IE. They're not getting away with that junk they pulled 20 years ago with me, in terms of recommendation or reputation, and they certainly aren't reducing their sentence here.
The last 10+ years all my workplaces have been Chrome-only. I have no intere
Where's the US FTC (Score:2)
Both declaring the user is wrong and instructing the user to not use Chrome. This is anti-competitive behaviour against competing software, for the third-time this year. What is the US FTC doing?
"There is an option to turn it off." (Score:1)
Microsoft-- that weird creep (Score:2)
You know how women seem to have a sixth sense when it comes to icky men who exude desperation? It's as if MSFT's decision makers are full of those guys.