- cross-posted to:
- mildlyinfuriating@lemmy.ml
- cross-posted to:
- mildlyinfuriating@lemmy.ml
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For those contemplating a shift to Linux, this site lets you kick the tires on different distros.
Or you can simply use Linux Mint or Zorin OS if you really can’t stand with a new UI
“oopsie reawwy sowwy uwu”
What was the problem? It was set to not Microsoft Edge.
“An app caused a problem”. Let me guess, that app was called “Edge”, and it was just pissed to be ignored.
I think the app was “Firefox” and it was also set as the default.
You mean the error of the Firefox app was to set the browser default anywhere but Edge?
lolol sheesh
man that sucks lol
In EU you can uninstall Edge completely.
As opposed to silently changing your default browser?
Reminds of that kid that trips over and eats a class colleague’s entire banana
“Banana”
I love how in their minds this is going to be a win. Like there are going to be all these people out there who just quietly accept that they’ll use Microsoft Edge from now on, and also in addition not form any kind of revision to their brand impression of Microsoft going forward.
I am sure there are some people who just kind of don’t give a fuck about computers who that will be accurate for, but I feel like it’s a much smaller minority than Microsoft seems to think that it is.
I am willing to bet there will be A LOT of people. I am a very tech savvy person, and I use edge on my work computer for many things (single sign on). My default search engine changed to bing, and I ended up using bing by accident for a while. And then for a while longer cause I was too lazy to change the setting.
Stupid is as stupid does.
All of that but then also that they will buy out any competition so you can care and notice, but fuck you.
Most users I know can’t distinguish Edge from Chrome any longer. I have to ask them to look for the Copilot symbol to differentiate the two.
I am sure there are some people who just kind of don’t give a fuck about computers who that will be accurate for, but I feel like it’s a much smaller minority than Microsoft seems to think that it is.
You’re definitely overestimating the size of your own bubble. The vast, vast, vast majority of people won’t even notice, forget caring or actually doing anything about it.
https://radar.cloudflare.com/reports/browser-market-share-2025-q1
Check “Market Share by OS” and switch it to Windows. Every one of those 67.359% of people who is using Chrome had it downloaded to their computer on purpose instead of just clicking “Internet” and getting Edge. Obviously they feel strongly enough to do that, so I don’t see how they would be amenable to losing all their bookmarks and settings and just going with Edge when one day their OS tries to trick them into it.
Unless enterprise is part of the equation. All those people are simply stuck using whatever thier company uses. Which is usually Edge and Chrome. With no option to change.
Most workplaces I’ve been at let me pick, but one did not let me use Firefox (only Chrome or Safari).
Weirdly one place didn’t block things but Brave wouldn’t install because the installer was actually a downloader and I couldn’t set it to use the corporate proxy. (Also don’t hate me, I don’t use Brave anymore and am not a fan, this was back in 2019.)
Genuine question. Why don’t you use Brave anymore? I’m not a fan of edge or Chrome and am happy with Brave. Always open to ideas through.
Sure! Happy to talk about it. I was never a fan of the crypto but you can disable it so that’s not my problem. My problem is that a while back they added affiliate information to links you clicked so that they got money. To me, something a browser should do is go to links you click on as you click on them and not mess with them (apart from privacy/security things). It’s a huge loss of trust.
Apart from that, I view all Chromium based browsers negatively nowadays because I don’t want to give Google de facto control of web standards. Chromium has a monopoly on browsers, basically. Especially since even Microsoft Edge is Chromium based now. The ad blocking changes were part of this, but just in general. I don’t think one company should just be able to make a change and have everyone passively adopt it because they’re downstream consumers of it. And yes, Brave is Chromium based.
Hi thanks for that. I now that Brave is Chromium based I did not know that it had affiliates so that is something to think about. My lap top is about to go obsolete due to windows 11 so am going to move to Linux in the very near future so I will think I will look around for a new browser at the same time. Again, thank for your reply.
I think you’re overestimating the degree to which the majority of users are willing to inconvenience themselves over a browser. If Microsoft announced tomorrow that Windows no longer supported any browser other than edge you wouldn’t see a mass migration to Linux. Instead you would see a healthy uptick in complaints about edge.
Maybe not mass migration, but that alone would probably add another percentage point or so to Linux’s market share, while others would just set about breaking the limitation/working around it within probably hours.
many of those chrome ‘users’ got there after clicking on one of google’s many somewhat misleading ‘advertisements’ or ‘notices’ or ‘warnings’
Citation: It is known
How many of them? How do you know?
“Many. It is known.”
I also like how you put “users” in quotes for some reason. Anyway, good talk.
To be fair, the claim that every single user deliberately installed chrome has the same citation lol
Maybe so. But Chrome got there some way, their computer didn’t come with it. 100% of the computers in that sample came with Edge configured as the browser and nothing else installed, and 81.95% of them are currently accessing the internet using something else. That to me indicates some kind of decisive action to use something else, on somebody’s part, and also that Microsoft’s years-long endeavor to correct the “problem” by just continuing to ask like a drunk man at the bar in the hopes that the answer will change is not a winner for most people who use computers at this point.
Probably it’s only as low as 81.95% because they do stuff like this. Obviously those people do still exist in a big contingent. My feeling is though that it’s no longer 1998 and there’s no longer this supermajority of AOL users out there who are confused by the very concept of a browser. Those people are in old folks’ homes now, their kids who grew up programming are the middle-aged people of today who aren’t hip to apps and TikTok, but they do understand about browsers. That’s just my feeling and a narrative I produced out of my ass, sure, but it does seem to match the data.
Sure, but I’d wager there’s a huge portion of chrome users who got there through the same tactic that Microsoft is deploying here - if you to go the world’s most popular search engine on a non-Chrome browser, it tells you that you should be running Chrome and provides a download link
Y’all have set up this false dichotomy in which you’ve ignored the real majority of chrome installs on windows: children, grandchildren, and neighbors who just want to move on with their life. So they install “the one that looks like a beach ball” and they install a bunch of risky extensions that’ll make reading and printing the internet easier.
Source: I used to work in computer repair and technology literacy. But, mostly my own ass.
Hey now, I wasn’t ignoring anyone. The truth is somewhere between “all installs were deliberate” and “most installs were accidental”
Several coworkers user Edge because the computer said to use Edge and a computer wouldn’t lie.
I can assure you that the vast majority of users in my footprint, about 600 of them, use Chrome because we set it as default. Many people have no idea the difference between Chrome and edge. I am currently sitting at a desk where the user has opened Chrome, but it is not default.
That’s why I used the specific phrasing “had it downloaded to their computer” instead of claiming that they were the ones to do it. You’ll notice that those users in your footprint also fall into a category of people which this won’t do a damn thing to influence.
Yes, they will.
The people who wouldn’t notice wouldn’t have changed their browser.
Ding ding ding
You’re assuming they’re the ones who installed it in the first place.
Something I’ve noticed, and it’s consistent enough that I suspect that microsoft does it on purpose, there’s a 50/50 chance that your windows instal will either be fine forever without problems, or plagued with constant issues that get worse with every update. 2 identical machines with the same install media can produce very different experiences.
I use linux now, and I no longer do tech support, so I’m glad I don’t have to deal with that shit anymore.
You’re absolutely right, but there’s a bit more to it than that.
As someone who deployed Windows professionally for years and was a power user at home, let me supply some additional details,
Windows has become business software through and through. It can run fine enough if you go with a basic install and minimal tweaks through only the standard channels (like Group Policy) and this is probably what those people always loudly claiming “well I never have an issue!” are doing and then they’ll accuse you for bringing it on yourself from deviating from this.
But what everyone should understand, especially them, is that this is not how normal people use their computers and it’s utter bullshit that Microsoft continues to restrict people into this box. Most businesses don’t need hardly anything aside from Office and perhaps one or two industry specific applications, an overwhelming number of these being SaaS these days anyways. Normal people on the other hand use a wide variety of software for their businesses and hobbies in a wide array of configurations and what’s more, we enjoy personalizing our experiences on top of it, as we should! This unsurprisingly leads to more instability that Microsoft simply doesn’t want to take responsibility for.
People still complain about not being able to move the taskbar from the bottom of the screen and Microsoft apologists will say, “but it’s such a small thing!” And well, it is and that’s kind of my point; it’s a bellweather. I bet it’s a simple fix, they could do it, they could please people and provide further usability but they just don’t have to. How long has it gone unaddressed now? You want to play Call of Duty, you cretin? Lick our boots! And don’t even get me started on the whole SecureBoot/TPM 2.0 DRM lockdown issue.
I use Arch BTW and here’s my quick pitch for that. It really is a good distro for people of moderate or above skill level. I slowly built it out over time, bolted on each carefully selected piece of software from the repository, reading the wiki and making configurations as I went. In doing so, I gained a better understanding of Linux in general and my system in specific so on the rare occasions something does break, I don’t feel as clueless addressing it. The reason we all start to sound like cult-like zealots after awhile is because we’ve established a personal relationship with our computers; it is my friend again. It’s hard to understate the actual palpable relief that comes from cutting out a bloated, malicious corporation from that chain of trust with a machine we use in our daily lives.
It’s time to end Microsoft. Reach out, be helpful and welcoming in the Linux community. They’re losing balance, they’ve overplayed their hand on 11 and over-invested in AI and while I doubt we’d be lucky enough to be truly rid of them, we can see them suffer some real damage.
Funnily enough, I got an email from MS plugging their Copilot shit.
I don’t give a fuck about what I’m subscribed to, I give a fuck about the link to unsubscribe from it.
Hmm is that illegal (missing unsub link) in this case?
I got this email from Microsoft a month ago
I have never had a Windows PC, I use Mac (I want to use Linux but I’m still waiting for Asahi Linux to have a driver for DisplayPort over USB-C), my photos are backed up and synced on iCloud already.
I don’t use any Xbox thing, I don’t have an Xbox; My Microsoft account only exists for one purpose and reason: Minecraft made me migrate my account.
Also isnt not having an unsubscribe button illegal?
Last time Microsoft tried something like this, they got the shit slapped out of them by federal antitrust regulators:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Microsoft_Corp.
“Shit slapped out of them” is a bit of a exaggeration
So, as with many other people. this stuff is certainly pushing me into Linux.
That said, is there no chance of the EU restarting their probes towards them with all the dark patterns they’ve been using to push people into Edge?
My day job is to fight ONE aspect of shady MS stuff. I don’t have time or money at home to fight ALL of MS’s shady shit at home.
