Dear Microsoft, enough is enough(politico.eu) |
Dear Microsoft, enough is enough(politico.eu) |
Heh. This could have been written 25 years ago.
Though at least back then, Microsoft was winning. Since then, the market share of IE/Edge has become so irrelevant that most people have stopped caring so much about these tactics.
At this point, it mostly just comes across as adorable when Windows tries to push you to use Edge. Like "wow, they're still trying."
I stopped supporting the platform when they:
- Mandated WGA even for licensed partners that got "Teh Crate" of every release every month which mandated multiple hosts for every version in lieu of simple multi-boot
- Allowed arbitrary code in the Registry
- Embedded IE making multi-browser testing a nightmare
- Developer API support went from detailed direct emails and MSDN articles from actual people to "search MSN on Google".
Just let Windows "die on the vine". There's zero point to continue propping up this dead platform outside of...edge ;) cases for industrial, embedded, military, and govt., use that are (mostly) already effectively version-locked anyways.
EU-specific measures: https://windowsforum.com/threads/windows-11s-browser-choice-...
So this is a bit of the pot calling the kettle black, and the conflict of interest is obvious; Google paid for this article because they want to preserve their own anti-competitive monopoly position.
It's unfortunate that this is where we are with American business in 2026, basically one mafia taking shots at another, but that's what you get when the government gives up on enforcing the law.
Same reason why you can use ANY browser "skin" on iOS as long as as it is ONLY the standard platform distributed webkit. Sadly MS gave up Windows on the mobile like a buffoon, so all they have left to control is their desktop OS.
Indeed, I can't believe we're still having the same conversation decades later.
And now with Google effectively dictating how you interact with the web, the industry has gotten worse, not better.
I am reading this wondering if I got pranked and its a historical article.
Until I got to "Edge"
Among people who aren't nerds it is working. You'll see this in e.g. the public sector and at the top of corporations.
They also do things that force certain people to use Edge under Windows, like bulk downloads from 365 through their compliance portal. This requires a particular type of browser plugin that will only function under those conditions. I perceived this as despicable rather than adorable when I had to work around it to provide services to lawyers.
From this article [0]
> Smartphones have become the dominant gateway to the internet.
> Mobile Share of Web Requests (Dec 2024) - 63%
IMHO, this is far more pernicious and insidious.
[0]: https://www.theglobalstatistics.com/device-usage-trends/
We call on Microsoft to respect its users and implement the following changes immediately and on a worldwide basis:
-Allow browser suppliers to compete for preinstallation and default deals with Windows PC manufacturers.
-End dark patterns targeted at users seeking to download and effectively use other browsers (including as system level default).
-Bring back the ability for users to make switching default browsers simple and transparent with a “single click” change for all relevant file types and apps (including PDFs).
-Open all web links in users’ selected system-level browser of choice.
-Eliminate manipulative Microsoft-exclusive banners pushing Edge in Windows, including when users are searching for other browsers.
-Stop using operating system updates to push users back to Edge.
-Remove the restrictive configurations of existing S mode devices that block usage of third-party browsers
I might be years out of the loop if I missed that changing lol
Heck, using safari to do a google search has google using half the screen begging me to use their browser or their use the google full ai experience.
And that on top of the EEE-steps with all the non-standards they keep implementing.
Firstly Windows is arguably the most unrestrictive OS (certainly among the commercial options). You can install pretty much anything you like, from anywhere you like. Contrast to say Android or iOS it's a wild-west.
If one wants to get on the "browser freedom" train, Windows is a strange choice over say iOS.
I guess the browser change process is not universal even on Windows. I recently installed a new W11 laptop and both Chrome and FF installed fine with no drama. Sure Edge wants to be default, so does Chrome, so does FF. All nag a bit in the beginning.
Describing a browser change as "nearly impossible" seems a tad hyperbolic to me. It's really easy.
It's also a one-and-done task. Not really something to get all wound up about.
And of course I can delete Safari from my iphone if I wanted to.
Who is the "Browser Choice Alliance" I thought to myself. One web search later:
> Our members: Midori, Opera, Vivaldi, Wavebox, Browserworks, and, ... wait for it ...
> Chrome.
Also: With something like a 75% market share that Chrome enjoys, I don't see how they can keep a straight face when complaining about the anticompetitive practices allowing a competitor to hold on to a 10% market share.
Appealing to reason is a waste of time as no big monopolistic corporation will willingly forfeit money. The only realistic (effective) solution is legislative. I don't see that happening anytime soon in the US but perhaps it's possible in other jurisdictions (more likely now that the US is no longer the flavor of the month with many).
People insist on Windows at work because it's so ubiquitous, when they go home their modus operandi doesn't have to change.
Forcing workers to change OSes against their will only puts one's job on the line (management will side with workers as it's the path of least resistance). QED.
Dear Microslop CEO Slopya Nuttela,They're probably delaying it until Google locks down Android completely, so there's no alternative you can switch to.
And why is this in Politico? ...oh I see it's the Europe edition. Is this because of EU tech sovereignty trends?
You absolutely are. That's precisely why they were forced to make the browser not a core part of their OS.
The entire strategy of Microsoft has been since its inception to force people to use their solutions! They got the OS on the computer itself, not something to install after with a conscious choice. Once they do this they bundle writer, spreadsheet, etc suite as one-way interoperable, then browser then online suite, then cloud, then AI... and it doesn't start with with your CTO or CIO, no it starts in school, giving licenses for poor students who can now "afford" the tool and be trained for life.
Microsoft a single uninterrupted chain of bundling despite being an illegal practice. Of course none of that would work on merit itself so they do the lobbying to insure it's used in institutions and everywhere else they can to insure that their tools are basically required.
You don't like it, stop using it! You hate it, boycott it! Don't expect change. They care so little about you and your opinions; demanding change from a multi-trillion dollar company is almost cringe-worthy at this point. Like a cockroach begging for mercy as your shoe is coming down onto it at full speed.
It's so frustrating how people nowadays complain about systems that they can easily change (or substitute, in this case) and nobody seems to complain about those systems which they cannot change nor substitute.
If you complain to abstract entities which don't care about you, about problems which you can easily solve yourself, you're the problem!
You're the reason why everything is shit and stays shit.