Is Microsoft still forcing the hand of Internet users? A new touching controversy the Edge browser seems to suggest yes.
The browser war continues and all weapons seem worth taking. In any case, this is what Microsoft seems to admit. Anxious to see its in-house web browser, Edge, succeed in carving out a small place for itself against Google Chrome, the company would be reduced to employing unsavory tactics.
A setting buried in Windows
As noted by a journalist from The Verge, a Windows update appears to have “authorized” Microsoft’s browser to copy all of Chrome’s data in an attempt to replace Google’s software. After installing cumulative update KB5034204, Tom Warren was surprised to see Edge automatically open on startup with all the tabs previously opened in Google Chrome.
It appears that this forced import is due to an obscure setting buried in the post-installation settings of some updates. A screen offering “always have access to your most recent browsing data» pushes users to synchronize Chrome data with Edge data. A big buttonAccept» is displayed in blue while the option “Later» is displayed in gray next to it. A great example of “dark patterns”.
But even having taken care to deactivate the option upstream, it seems that Edge still used Chrome data. The journalist from The Verge explains that the pop-up is “appeared then disappeared in less than a second» and that this crash may have been interpreted as tacit consent on Edge’s part.
A problem older than it seems
It seems that the problem is not new. A thread on Reddit dated three months ago raises exactly the same problem and many Internet users on X explain that they encountered exactly the same situation when installing several updates offered by Microsoft.
This could be due to an unfortunate bug since this behavior is not reproducible on all Windows machines. Unfortunately, Microsoft has already done so much to impose Edge on its customers’ machines that doubt is sadly allowed.
Perfect integration with their ecosystem, source code based on Chromium: Edge and Chrome have much more in common than it seems. If Google’s browser currently holds the biggest share of the pie, favored by nearly 65% of users worldwide, the developments deployed by Microsoft in this new year could help narrow the gap between the two GAFAMs. If you are hesitating between these two web browsers, our comparison should help you make the right choice.
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Source : The Verge
A journalist for almost 10 years, I have been in the tech and digital sector since my very first jobs. Tinkerer (a lot), librarian (a little), I have developed a specialization in the themes of ecology and digital technology as well as the protection of privacy. On weekends I torture Raspberry Pis with lots of 'sudo' commands to relax.
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