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Microsoft stole my Chrome tabs, and it wants yours, too (www.theverge.com)

submitted 5 months ago by noodlejetski@lemm.ee to c/technology@beehaw.org

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Last week, I turned on my PC, installed a Windows update, and rebooted to find Microsoft Edge automatically open with the Chrome tabs I was working on before the update. I don’t use Microsoft Edge regularly, and I have Google Chrome set as my default browser. Bleary-eyed at 9AM, it took me a moment to realize that Microsoft Edge had simply taken over where I’d left off in Chrome. I couldn’t believe my eyes.

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[+] raccoona_nongrata@beehaw.org 240 points 5 months ago

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[-] SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone 126 points 5 months ago

And then uninstall Chrome and use FF instead.

Based.

[-] Zworf@beehaw.org 38 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

And do this every time the system gets a major update because it puts all the crapware right back 🫣

[-] wizardbeard@lemmy.dbzer0.com 28 points 5 months ago

Alternatively, buy or 🏴‍☠️KMSpico🏴‍☠️ yourself a pro license, and use group policy so it's one and done. Microsoft has built in tools for almost all of this that don't get rolled over by updates.

Getting tired of people claiming that it's impossible to decrap Windows.

Obtuse? Sure! Features that shouldn't be hidden behind an upgraded license? Hell fucking yes!

Impossible? Fuck no, hell no.

Learning basic Windows admin stuff, especially just the debloating/configuration things, is comparable in difficulty to switching to Linux.

Don't get me wrong, I love Linux and less reliance on Microsoft is awesome, but 90% of complaints about Windows come from people who don't know how to configure it, how to use the tools Microsoft offers to decrap it, and how to make it work for them. They'll hit similar problems with most Linux distros as soon as you go deeper than basic "office suite and web browser" usage.

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[-] dubyakay@lemmy.ca 16 points 5 months ago

I've been a lifelong windows user (well and DOS and whatever cartridge I used with the C64/C128) but I think it's just time to uninstall the OS instead.

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[-] UmbraTemporis@lemmy.dbzer0.com 20 points 5 months ago

Just want to mention Floorp, based on FF but with loads of additional options & appearance settings, also lightning-fast.

[-] callyral@pawb.social 22 points 5 months ago

it's nice to see more gecko/firefox-based browsers

[-] SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone 17 points 5 months ago

Partially because we need stable forks for if/when Mozilla bites the dirt.

[-] helenslunch@feddit.nl 11 points 5 months ago

There's a ton of them.

LibreWolf
Mullvad
Tor
Floorp
Fennec
Mull

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[-] nevernevermore@kbin.social 12 points 5 months ago

Just want to mention Librewolf which is also FF based and has no telemetry out of the box, as well or ublock origin installed by default.

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[-] vox@sopuli.xyz 18 points 5 months ago

this is borked in win11, and got borked in win10 a month ago.
my secondary win10 machine that had been edge-free for at least 4 years, just got edge back and since it was also disabled by policy, throws an error on every boot, since apparently that piece of crap tries to autostart for whatever reason (even if autostart option is disabled, it just starts in background, does something and closes a few minutes later)

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[-] Ascyron@lemmy.one 74 points 5 months ago

This behaviour is why I roll my eyes when the edge fanbois are all like "iTs AlL cHrOmE aNyWaY".

Fuck any company that uses their power to try trick people into using their software, yes including google.

[-] joyjoy@lemm.ee 66 points 5 months ago

“iTs AlL cHrOmE aNyWaY”

This is why I use Firefox.

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[-] 4am@lemm.ee 11 points 5 months ago

Wait, Edge fanbois are real??

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[-] phoenixz@lemmy.ca 55 points 5 months ago

And again, install Linux and be done with this shit. Fuck Windows, fuck everything about Microsoft, don't use their crap

[-] tesseract@beehaw.org 19 points 5 months ago

Having switched Linux for over two decades now, I find the current state of Windows to be extremely weird. Why do people tolerate such abuse? Is it that the gradual degradation conditioned people to accept it? Sort of like the proverbial frog in the boiling water?

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[-] ExLisper@linux.community 52 points 5 months ago

installed a Windows update, (...) and I have Google Chrome set as my default browser

It's subtle but if you look closely and read between the lines you can see what the real issue is.

[-] TonyTonyChopper@mander.xyz 18 points 5 months ago

He doesn't use Arch btw

[-] megopie@beehaw.org 49 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

I’m slowly just migrating away from windows as much as I can because Microsoft is being so pushy with this nonsense. Like, they keep trying to get me to log in to a Microsoft account that doesn’t exist, they keep changing settings and asking for more permissions, they keep reinstalling stuff I’ve ripped out purposefully, and from the way they’re talking it seems like it’s just going to get worse. Stuff like putting cloud run python functions in to Excel just sounds like they’re testing tech to push more and more functions off the device and in to their centralized processing centers.

I’d consider apple but I don’t have “spend 3x as much money on the same hardware” money TBH, and really I don’t have any guarantees they won’t do the same thing Microsoft is doing.

I’ve got an older laptop that I’m slowly rebuilding my work flow in mint Linux and once I’ve got that working I’ll set it up on my main computer and be done with windows for the foreseeable future.

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[-] Jaysyn@kbin.social 46 points 5 months ago

No one who enjoys the Internet should be using Chrome for anything.

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[-] JokeDeity@lemm.ee 38 points 5 months ago

Firefox is your friend.

[-] aniki@lemm.ee 27 points 5 months ago

LOL This is what happens when you run closed source garbage. Nothing is in your control.

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[-] jarfil@beehaw.org 27 points 5 months ago

Edge also copies all the extensions you have in Chrome.

I use Edge as "that browser with full tracking and no privacy that government sites require", so it still was a dick move... had to disable them all 😒

[-] fmstrat@lemmy.nowsci.com 26 points 5 months ago

Everyone in this thread is complaining about Chrome. They should be complaining about MS.

[-] Faydaikin@beehaw.org 37 points 5 months ago

Can't we do both?

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[-] wick@lemm.ee 26 points 5 months ago

That's hilarious. Why would you use chrome instead of edge though? At least with edge you cut out google, with chrome you give data to both.

[-] Senal@programming.dev 30 points 5 months ago

I'm having trouble parsing this so i might be commenting on something that isn't there.

Current edge is a chrome re-skin with some addons, I'd put good money on it not being google free.

If you care about data going to nefarious places you probably shouldn't be using either.

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[-] brie@beehaw.org 20 points 5 months ago

It's so easy to switch to Edge, you don't even have to try! Literally!

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.

Given Microsoft's track record....

[-] verysoft@kbin.social 18 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

To be fair, chromium aside, edge did start as a nice browser, but as with all MS products, they end up getting riddled with more and more bullshit over time.

Just use Firefox.

[-] Zworf@beehaw.org 8 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

Yeah and that didn't take very long. I mean how long was it since they started pushing the "new" edge until the crapware started showing up? Only a year or 2 IIRC.

I mean normally the rule of enshittification is that you wait inserting all the crap after people have started adopting your product. They didn't wait long enough. I always knew they would do it but at least I didn't have to wait long to be proven right.

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[-] UmbraTemporis@lemmy.dbzer0.com 11 points 5 months ago

The only browser recommended by Microsoft.

Made by Microsoft

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[-] WeLoveCastingSpellz@lemmy.dbzer0.com 19 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

Two ways to avoid this problem: switch to linux, switch to firefox, preferably both

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[-] Hirom@beehaw.org 18 points 5 months ago

Look at me! I am the browser now

[-] Xcf456@lemmy.nz 14 points 5 months ago

Pretty crazy to think they got broken up in the late 90s/early 2000s for simply including IE in a fresh Windows install (im probably over simplifying but still). Yet these days they're pulling this kind of shit

[-] princessnorah@lemmy.blahaj.zone 10 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

You aren’t really over simplifying that much. IE was installed, but on first launch it loaded a website called BrowserChoice.eu where you could pick a different browser to install. It would change the default browser setting and remove IE shortcuts. The order of the browser’s was randomised similar to the way an election ballot usually is.

Microsoft set it up to comply with an EU decision in 2010, only on devices sold in the EU. However, it was only required until December 2014, so Microsoft quietly discontinued it in an update. The functionality was never included in Edge.

Edit: the 90s-00s anti-trust stuff with Microsoft and IE wasn’t just about IE being the default in Windows. It was also because they forced Apple to include it on Mac OS as the default, otherwise they’d stop developing Office for Mac. They also stipulated that Apple couldn’t develop their own competing browser and Safari wasn’t born until later.

Ironic that Apple went on to do the same thing with Safari, and more importantly the WebKit engine, on iOS. Plus now trying to force its competitors to either continue using Webkit, or maintain two seperate versions of their apps. One for within the EU and one for everywhere else

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[-] Auzy@beehaw.org 14 points 5 months ago

Actually, I had this exact issue a year ago, had a rage fit, and bought a Mac. I hate Apple, but this was going way too far

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[-] tesseract@beehaw.org 14 points 5 months ago

I thought I had heard the worst of it. But it's their platform. They keep inventing new ways to screw their customers.

[-] vanderbilt@beehaw.org 11 points 5 months ago

Funny how the EU council considers iOS to be a big problem but not Microsoft’s behavior around Edge. Both need to be corrected, but only one has seen any action - and it ain’t Microsoft.

[-] lvxferre@mander.xyz 13 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

Accordingly to The Verge, "EU regulators have “tentatively concluded” that Bing and Edge aren’t dominant enough for the DMA regulations".

I agree that both need to be corrected though. The issue is Microsoft's behaviour being unacceptable. It also creates a nasty situation, where other corporations might argue "you allowed Microsoft to do it, so allow us too, otherwise you're being unfair."