Microsoft To Finally Stop Bugging Windows Users About Edge - But Only in Europe (theverge.com) 45
An anonymous reader shares a report: Microsoft's changes in response to the Digital Markets Act already included allowing Windows machines in the regions it covers to uninstall Edge and remove Bing results from Windows search, but now the list is growing in some meaningful ways. New features announced Monday for Microsoft Windows users in the European Economic Area (the EU plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway) include the option to uninstall the Microsoft Store and avoid extra nags or prompts asking them to set Microsoft Edge as the default browser unless they choose to open it.
Additionally, setting a different browser, like Chrome, Firefox, Brave, or something else, will pin it to the taskbar unless the user chooses not to. While setting a different browser default already attaches it to a few link and file types like https and .html, now users in the EEA will see it apply to more types like "read," ftp, and .svg. The default browser changes are live for some users in the beta channel and are set to roll out widely on Windows 10 and Windows 11 in July.
Additionally, setting a different browser, like Chrome, Firefox, Brave, or something else, will pin it to the taskbar unless the user chooses not to. While setting a different browser default already attaches it to a few link and file types like https and .html, now users in the EEA will see it apply to more types like "read," ftp, and .svg. The default browser changes are live for some users in the beta channel and are set to roll out widely on Windows 10 and Windows 11 in July.
Using a Mac (Score:1, Troll)
Problem solved.
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Re: Using a Mac (Score:3)
I'm the type of person that uses different browsers for different purposes even though Firefox is my main goto browser because it offers a working adblocker.
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Google bugs me a few times a week to use Chrome on iOS because I use the Gmail app...
They had me at (Score:3)
Ridiculous (Score:1)
You know your has become way too large, powerful and ridiculous when it is mandating shit as COMPLETELY MUNDANE as pinning a web browser to a task bar (or not).
I mean....JFC man. Talk about "your sign".
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You know your has become way too large,
is it ... "government"?
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You know your has become way too large,
is it ... "government"?
I thought he meant "your software vendor".
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Which is also ridiculous.
Cool, now also (Score:3, Insightful)
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Google recommends their browser when you visit their site.
That's different from prompting a user to change their browser, that they explicitly installed and set as default, every time they install an unrelated security update for their operating system. Even worse when the default action is to change the existing defaults, with the only way to not do so being a small blue coloured link with a blue background.
Now, can they stop the Office 365, One Drive and Copilot nags too?
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Google recommends their browser when you visit their site.
I'm in the EU and I don't see that, nor when logging in. I even disabled all addon's to make sure I didn't miss it.
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Google recommends their browser when you visit their site.
I'm in the EU and I don't see that, nor when logging in. I even disabled all addon's to make sure I didn't miss it.
I'm in the UK and all I get is a pop up asking me to log in... and that's only when I go google.com, just using the default search page on Firefox does nothing.
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I don't get OneDrive, Copilot or Office 365 nags, or even Edge nags. Does it only happen on Home Edition or something?
Re: Cool, now also (Score:2)
No, I've been nagged for all of those on pro except office, which is already installed
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Google won't be nagging you to use Chrome every time you visit Google, right?
Apple won't restrict non-Safari browsers anymore, right?
No?
Just tried google.com with firefox and all add-ons inactivated and all I get is the cookies/log in screen where the first option is reject all; click thru and there's no mention of chrome anywhere. I even tried logging in to my google account and there's no mention of chrome. I'm in the EU so I'll guess that' s the difference.
I have no Idea about apple.
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They did that in the EU as well, at the very least until recently.
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Google won't be nagging you to use Chrome every time you visit Google, right? Apple won't restrict non-Safari browsers anymore, right? No?
Just tried google.com with firefox and all add-ons inactivated and all I get is the cookies/log in screen where the first option is reject all; click thru and there's no mention of chrome anywhere. I even tried logging in to my google account and there's no mention of chrome. I'm in the EU so I'll guess that' s the difference.
I have no Idea about apple.
Apple user here (as well as Linux and Windows) Apple doesn't restrict other browsers, so he's either being sarcastic and forgot the /s on his post, or just plain wrong.
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Thanks!
Re: Cool, now also (Score:2)
Apple restricts browsers on IOS.
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Please pick your favorite WebKit based browser, lol. Safari, Chrome, and Edge are built on top of WebKit forks.
Re: Cool, now also (Score:2)
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Apple won't restrict non-Safari browsers anymore, right? No?
Wait - WUT? I have Safari, FireFox and Opera on My Apple devices and have for years. How does Apple restrict them?
Or do I get a Whoosh?
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Apple requires every browser to just be a Safari wrapper. I think that changed recently because the EU forced them to allow different browser engines, so Firefox can be real Firefox and not just a wrapper.
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"Apple won't restrict non-Safari browsers anymore, right?"
Apple has to allow other engines in Europe. I think they only allow them there, though. Because if you can't be evil in the EU you can still be evil in the US.
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Dunno. I haven't used Google for ... a decade or so?
Do they still do search?
I'm sorry, not sorry. (Score:3)
I was using chromium to login to outlook.com and it wasn't working. I thought MS was trying to force me to use edge. I finally tried edge and it still wasn't working. I finally figured out MS was only allowing the outlook app to work. I'm sorry for thinking MS was trying to force me to use edge.
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In this case it's just different malice.
Because it's Microsoft, there is ALSO incompetence.
Other countries? (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Other countries? (Score:4, Insightful)
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Then maybe something will change.
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Except that also democrats are captured by big business.
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Except that also democrats are captured by big business.
You're right about that, but they are slightly less so.
Electing a Democrat is therefore not actually a win, but it's still less of a loss than electing a Republican.
As long as the majority of Americans worship corporations, which is clearly the case, that's the best we can do.
Which version numbers will the EU get? (Score:2)
Downloading the version with less fuckery an issue (and checksums can ensure one from an unofficial source is legit).
Disabling MSFT nonsense is a feature not a bug so I collect less vile versions for future installs.
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Windows already has / had EU versions without IE etc. (N?), versions especially for Korea with crippled encryption (K?) etc.
Ironically N was because they were legally required to after a lawsuit about the browser-choice function, and the IE bundled with Windows, and they were forced to offer it.
It seems 20+ years later we're doing the same damn thing again and they've been getting away with it because it's *technically* not immediately illegal for them to just badger the hell out of the user until most ordi
Isn't Windows just about bugging (Score:2)
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the user about a lot of crap? I just started at a job, where I got a Windoze machine. All the crap it and the IT department wants of me. Extra security restrictions even though I am admin, an outsourced IT department with full control over "my" machine. At my previous job we all used Mac and Linux, and we didn't need any IT department even though the company was 5 times larger. I understand why businesses and IT like Windoze: The feeling of control over their users/employees, and constant work for the IT department. And when something goes wrong: "You don't get fired for buying IBM ( -> MS)"
Yup, there is a reason why a lot of IT people love Windows. It's job security. We didn't even have a Mac support team other than me, and I'm not even an IT guy.
We did have issues with Windows at meetings - to the point where no important meetings were scheduled on the Wednesday after patch Tuesday. Even then it could be dicey. They wanted me to help since I was at the meetings. I told them I wanted my own laptop that I had control over, not them. They balked, but I just let problems go to them a couple t
Sigh. (Score:2)
Hint to Microsoft:
The more you insist that Edge is better and that I must use it, even interfering in searches for Chrome on a fresh Windows machine telling me and other users that I "don't need it"... the more I will use any non-Edge browser purely out of spite forever, and deploy, by default, a non-Edge browser for every one of the thousands of users I deal with, including encoding that into our policies.
Aah! BREXIT strikes again (Score:1)
Just when you thought you could ignore the total clusterf*ck that was the United Kingdom leaving the European Union we discover a new benefit - being excluded from this. Aaaaargh!!