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Microsoft Edge is apparently usurping Chrome on people’s PCs

  • Users of Google Chrome on Windows 10 and 11 are reporting that they have suddenly found themselves using Microsoft Edge, with their Chrome browsing sessions appearing in Edge.
  • This may be due to a bug or an accidentally clicked-through dialog box related to a feature in Edge that imports browsing data from Chrome.
  • The setting, called "Import browsing data from Chrome," continually imports data from Chrome every time Edge is launched, unlike the one-time import offered for Firefox.
  • There have been concerns about Microsoft's tactics for pushing its own browser, including notifications, pop-ups, and full-screen messages promoting Edge and Bing.
  • Microsoft has become more aggressive in pushing various subscriptions and features in recent years, making a "clean" Windows install feel less so.
  • It remains unclear whether the Edge data-import issue is intentional or a bug, highlighting concerns about Microsoft's methods for promoting its own software.
moon ,

Both are cancer, but at least Microsoft is pushing out less internet standard monopoly bullshit like Google does... well unless you look into them blocking swapping the default browser on windows lol.

disconnectikacio , (edited )

Let them fight! Both are bad for it

doctorcrimson ,

No Duh

It's litterally just another Chromium except with Hardware Acceleration capability that Google Chrome lacks. You can't watch real 1080p Netflix on Google Chrome in 90% of desktops.

sturmblast ,

Edge needs to calm the fuck down.

nayminlwin ,

Ballmer's microsoft atleast had some pride not to pester their users this way...

lemmesay ,
@lemmesay@discuss.tchncs.de avatar

developers developers developers developers

LarmyOfLone ,

All your personal data belong to us.

Fuck I really have to switch to linux. Shit's accelerating I wouldn't be surprised if this is just the top of the iceberg of what microsoft is doing, analyzing, logging and transmitting all sort of stuff.

lemmesay ,
@lemmesay@discuss.tchncs.de avatar

please do, you won't regret it!

and if for some reason you need w*ndows, use this free(as in freedom) software to see(and block) what each app is sending and to where.

AzureRT ,
@AzureRT@reddthat.com avatar

Have fun when your brightness slider breaks for whatever dumbfuck reason

dukk ,

Over a year now, mine still hasn’t :)

AzureRT ,
@AzureRT@reddthat.com avatar

Well, mine doesn't even do anything after I switched to Mint on my laptop. When I moved to Zorin on my desktop it still worked but stopped working after I moved back to Windows

banneryear1868 ,

Have both for work and prefer Edge

samus12345 ,
@samus12345@lemmy.world avatar

https://64.media.tumblr.com/1319b27f56c30ca691c8520be93b9c45/7b0dd2e3b2e497ee-72/s540x810/162b28fc0f85283e74519b01b4d0f0429ed76cd2.gif

EmperorHenry ,
@EmperorHenry@discuss.tchncs.de avatar

yeah, because it's compatible with everything chrome is compatible with and it's slightly less invasive to your privacy.

Brave is the only chromium based browser you should ever bother with.

Librewolf and mullvad browser are the only firefox based browsers you should bother with.

CarbonatedPastaSauce ,

Don’t use Brave.

https://community.brave.com/t/brave-has-become-malware/510414

Edit: I agree about LibreWolf. I switched last year. For those that don’t know, it’s Firefox without telemetry and more privacy focused default settings.

spujb ,

“Warren posits that the tab-snatching happened because of a bug or an inadvertently clicked-through dialog box“

so we don’t even know if it was an accidental keysmash or not. i am fully on the side of opposition to ms, but this is a joke of journalism. let’s maybe do our research before posting rage inducing titles next time.

prettydarknwild ,
@prettydarknwild@lemmy.world avatar

yeah, a "bug"

Matriks404 ,

It's 2024 and yet, user programs can still steal data from each other. There should be some kind of permissions system in Windows, like in Android and additionally apps should ask if they can access data of other program.

Katana314 ,

I think there is, but 90% of windows apps resolve not to use that framework out of fear of the MS Store, even though you can theoretically install UWP apps outside of it.

Daxtron2 ,

the fact that a perms system is essentially opt-in for non UWP apps is laughable

Katana314 ,

I disagree. Back when Win32 was put together, these sorts of modern standards hadn’t been thought through by anyone yet. Even the internet wasn’t pervasive.

Windows finally decided “You know what, this API is ancient; let’s see what we can do to make it more secure and trustworthy.” That involves reorganizing the way these apps own files, make certain requests, etc. It meant it wouldn’t support the same stuff. But, by failing to claim any certain advantages aside from “safety FROM the apps you’re installing”, no one adopted it.

Natanael ,

In fact they had been thought of, but few wanted to develop for it and nobody wanted to enforce it. Look at how old "capabilities" systems are.

https://homes.cs.washington.edu/~levy/capabook/

Daxtron2 ,

It's the eternal problem of not wanting to break backwards compatibility which I totally get from a dev perspective. From a user security standpoint though, it kinda defeats the purpose of even having the system these days if it's so easy to circumvent.

Katana314 ,

It’s very easy to achieve that security as a user, in a non-circumventable way. Just refuse to install anything made as a Win32 executable.

You’ll be unable to do most of what people do daily, but you’ll be secure. And, Windows even offered that as a potential OS setup - and it was instantly seen as “Microsoft’s effort to lock down the operating system to only apps they approve”.

Users DID have that mindset shift once before. Back in Windows 2000, EVERY app worked off admin permissions. In Vista, everyone started getting annoying permission dialogs on their old apps to access admin folders - and just started accepting them. But now that most apps are correctly designed to access user folders, sudden admin dialogs are a big point of user suspicion. In some reality, we’d do the same with “…What? You want me to manually run a .exe file I’ve downloaded in the browser??”

csm10495 ,
@csm10495@sh.itjust.works avatar

Ya say you want this. Use Windows in S mode and you have it.

tory ,

I'd never heard of S mode until my aging mother needed to get on a Zoom call with her doctor, and I couldn't install the app on her laptop because of it.

I set her up to use the web browser mode instead. Leaving it on was for the best at that point. I kinda figured S mode meant senior mode like for old people or something, idk. It certainly prevented her from installing anything bad by accident: and it was just a youtube and email thing for her anyway.

Octopus1348 ,
@Octopus1348@lemy.lol avatar

Yeah, you can only install from the MS store.

YIj54yALOJxEsY20eU ,

Senior mode lmao

cley_faye ,

If there was a fiable framework for that in use by most applications, it's fairly safe to say it would still have exceptions for the OS's provided apps, "to improve the user experience".

bob_lemon ,

I think locking apps to only their own files is a terrible idea.

If a program creates unencrypted, unsecured files on disk, those files should absolutely be free game for any other program. Because if they're not supposed to be read, they should not be unsecured files on disk.

max ,

I’m decently sure that macOS already does something somewhat similar. If a program wants to access files outside its own directory, you get asked for explicit permission to do that.

fosstulate ,
@fosstulate@iusearchlinux.fyi avatar

If my hardware is to be used as a public space then I expect it to be provided for free. While I foot the cost, it's my property solely, and encryption status of the contents remains completely irrelevant. You sound like you've drunk the corporate KoolAid.

lastweakness ,

Nothing you're saying makes sense in the context of the comment you're replying to.

fosstulate ,
@fosstulate@iusearchlinux.fyi avatar

The onus isn't on the environment owner to lock down app space and secure data to the nth degree, it's on developers not to ship poorly behaved apps. My files don't exist in a public space like they are rubbish on a residential nature strip, free to be pilfered by randos. They aren't free game in any way.

CileTheSane ,
@CileTheSane@lemmy.ca avatar

Conversely: as the owner of my device programs should not be creating files that I can't access any way I want. My .rar files shouldn't refuse to be opened by 7zip.

I should, however, be able to uninstall any program (such as Edge) that I don't want on my system. That is what the bullshit originates from.

ScaNtuRd ,

Well both browsers suck balls, so there's that.

MonkderZweite ,

Guess if i ever have to use Windows again, my Firefox will be a Portabe App. Can't usurp stuff you don't know about, since it's not in Registry.

Except if they start to use Smartscreen for that...

Kyrinar ,

On my work laptop, Teams has started to ignore my default browser settings. Firefox is still the default, and everywhere else links open there, but from Teams they open in edge anyway. Its really annoying

cikano ,

That almost sounds like group policy bullshit

Kbobabob ,

Yeah, the Microsoft group

JasonDJ ,

It sounds like they are actually using the PWA and don’t realize it’s Edge under the hood. They are mad Edge is opening links in Edge. Why would it do that?!?!

init ,
@init@lemmy.ml avatar

Same if you click any of the ChatGPT copilot shit baked into the start menu.

webghost0101 , (edited )

This makes some vague sense since the way its implemented copilot is pretty much served trough edge.

The whole start menu is pretty much a skin for edge that can also search local files.

It absolutely sux, definitely feels predatory as it basically includes a keylogger, everything you type is considered a bing search and collected.

Get linux when your tired of it.

init ,
@init@lemmy.ml avatar

Already on Pop_OS ;)

I have windows dual booted for a couple things I can't live or do school without and don't have viable options for Linux

Psythik ,

MSEdgeRedirect will fix that problem.

LiveLM ,

Oh sweet, the tool I knew that was similar to this got killed in Win 11 so it's nice to see someone figured it out.

Psythik ,

Yeah I've been using it in Win11 for over a year with no issues. It works perfectly for making sure everything always opens in Firefox (or whatever browser you use). Happy to help.

Lobreeze ,

I had same issue, some popup came up in teams I said ok to.

It switched my links to open in edge with teams pinned to the side. Very annoying

There is an option buried in teams settings somewhere that let's you switch back to normal browser.

olmium ,

Outlook has been doing this for a long time too

TrueStoryBob ,

Outlook is super buggy on FireFox for my phone. I found that Vivaldi has been running it fine enough though. It still fails to launch on first try from time to time, but I've never gotten frustrated enough to consider downloading the app.

PM_Your_Nudes_Please ,

Pretty much every Microsoft service does this. IIRC, it’s a large part of what landed them in court for an antitrust lawsuit in the EU a few months ago. Basically, another company (probably Google) was saying that Microsoft ignoring users’ default browser options and forcing their own services to open in Edge was anticompetitive. And I mean, they’re not wrong.

slurpeesoforion ,

I had that experience a few updates back. But it eventually allowed to set a preferred browser again in addition to allowing opening office files in the desktop app.

Zink ,

I’ve noticed that on my work laptop too. If I click a link in a Microsoft program, it doesn’t open in the default browser (Firefox of course), it opens edge.

But I’m doing anything important in a Linux VM anyway.

Faxing_Berlin ,

CTT Windoes Utility -> Tweaks -> Remove Microsoft Edge

Removed edge when I got my new computer about a year ago and haven’t seen it since.

LiveLM ,

Oh, that also happened to me at work!
When it first happened, a popup showed up at the right corner of Edge telling me about how it was improving my browsing experience or some bullshit, and at the there was a button to continue opening links in my default browser instead, clicked that once and it hasn't pestered me again.
Unfortunately I don't know if you can call this popup back if you accidentally dismiss it, though there might be a checkbox buried inside Teams or Edge to disable this behavior. Expect it to be called "Improve your browsing experience/Privacy" or some completely obtuse lie like that.

AlecSadler ,

Teams has its own one-off setting buried in its own settings menu, I had to go intentionally update it there to fix it for me. Sketchy.

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