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from the it-ain't-what-you-do-its-the-way-that-you-do-it dept.
Microsoft is trying a new brute-force tactic to boost adoption of its Edge browser. In the latest preview version of Windows 10, Microsoft’s Mail app will automatically open web links in Edge, even for users who’ve set a different browser as their default. Doing so, Microsoft says, will ensure “the best, most secure and consistent experience on Windows 10 and across your devices.”
That’s not exactly true. Although Edge has gotten a lot better since it replaced Internet Explorer as the main Windows browser in 2015, and is now available on iOS and Android, it doesn’t yet sync tabs across devices like Chrome and Mozilla Firefox can. Also, the iPad version is still in beta, and the Android version isn’t compatible with tablets.
Besides, ignoring people’s default browser choice only makes the experience less consistent, because users end up with open web pages scattered across multiple browsers.
CNET has the following to say:
In a note to testers published on Microsoft's website Friday, the company seems to acknowledge it's a bit heavy-handed, and an unusual shift. But, the company believes it's worth doing anyway.
"We will begin testing a change where links clicked on within the Windows Mail app will open in Microsoft Edge, which provides the best, most secure and consistent experience on Windows 10 and across your devices," the company said in a note to "Windows Insider" testers.
The move struck some people as odd, particularly because of Microsoft's colorful history with web browsers. Two decades ago, the company chose to offer its Internet Explorer web browser for free with Windows, effectively beating its rival Netscape. But it also attracted the attention of regulators, kicking off one of the most high-profile antitrust suits in the industry's history.
Industry watchers and users raised concerns about Microsoft repeating similar mistakes with this move, noting that the company has touted diversity of apps by different developers as a selling point.
(Score: 4, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 18 2018, @02:34AM (12 children)
Ignore this. People who say this don't follow browser development. Edge is 6+ years behind Firefox/Chrome in all fields, with zero hope of catching up.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 18 2018, @07:02AM (5 children)
If I only could get the web of 6+ years ago back... instead of this JS-loaded bloat crap that's served by web servers these days.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by anubi on Sunday March 18 2018, @08:30AM
NoScript will get you close to that. However some business sites won't talk to you.
One thing NoScript will let you do is let just certain scripts run... which I find extremely useful when dealing with certain businesses, as their customer authentication and payment processing systems often run on different sites than their product offering system. I could understand going that far with scripts that leave the site, and NoScript allows me to allow that - but only to those systems, and on that site.
Off-site scripting can get out of hand so damned fast though. It seems common now to see several dozen entities show up on the NoScript permission menu... and I see the same snooping people over and over and over again. Its like trying to do business at a bank, and having a crowd of people looking over my shoulder, taking notes, while I am discussing my retirement accounts. I don't know who these people are, and they are all hiding behind "hold harmless" clauses. But now I know that should I use a script blocker, I can at least get most of them out of the room. If the businessman trying to foist them on me becomes too adamant about my tolerating them, then I have to re-evaluate just how badly I want that thing the businessman offers, and if I can get it elsewhere.
One thing I do wish businesses would do is tell me which scripts I *have* to permit before his site will work. Its pretty damned obvious from his end if I have made connection but the scripts are failing. Instead of telling me I have a deprecated browser and will have to upgrade, or telling me to turn off my script blocker, tell me stuff like "the logon authenticator is at alicdn.net, your end is failing to access it." kind of thing... and DO NOT LIE! You send me to a nuisance popup or something after I trusted you, and your credibility has taken a huge, probably unrecoverable, hit. That's the reason a lot of us are using script blockers... some businessman before you has seriously damaged the reputation of all web businesses by running at best nuisances, and at worst malware distributing scripts.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Monday March 19 2018, @04:04AM (3 children)
6 years? I was ranting about javascript in 1998. The slightest javascript coding error would crash browsers in those days, and if running Windows, force a Windows reboot.
(Score: 2) by deimtee on Monday March 19 2018, @10:29AM (2 children)
The reboot was because you had just installed a virus or rootkit. Every software install in Windows required a reboot back then.
(Nowadays of course, only legitimate software requires a reboot. Malicious stuff installs silently and without a problem.)
If you cough while drinking cheap red wine it really cleans out your sinuses.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 19 2018, @01:13PM
No it wasn't, it was because Microsoft decided to integrate Internet Explorer so deeply into the operating system that they couldn't remove it again themselves, even when compelled by court order.
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Monday March 19 2018, @02:49PM
Not necessarily at all. Windows requires reboots for driver installs, or any other file the OS actively uses. Many software installs didn't mess with system files and didn't require reboots.
The browser crashing requiring reboot was due to unrecoverable memory corruption (Win95/98). For example, errant javascript buffer overrun. As most of us know, OSes still don't do memory protection very well, hence the rise of hypervisors, virtualization, paravirtualization, etc. Even they are occasionally vulnerable to attack. Win95/98 could sometimes tell you something went awry, but it couldn't fix it, requiring reboot. MS has gotten better and better at application memory protection, but they can only go so far because...
Now, we have hardware memory corruption. What the heck is happening. I've known for years, and others have pointed it out here and on other sites: features and gadgetry are more important than quality.
(Score: 2) by jasassin on Sunday March 18 2018, @10:33AM (1 child)
Edge is the only browser that will play movies on Netflix at 4K. Edge and IE11 are the only browsers that will do 1080p on Netflix. Firefox is limited to 720p, as is Chrome (which has rendering issues so is unusable for Netflix).
jasassin@gmail.com GPG Key ID: 0xE6462C68A9A3DB5A
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 18 2018, @10:59AM
Correction: Edge is the only browser Netflix will output 4K to. You can either have 4K or not-getting-pwnd-while-sneezing kit, the choice is yours.
(Score: 2) by shortscreen on Sunday March 18 2018, @07:10PM
Six fewer years worth of shittiness than Firefox or Chrome? Wow, maybe Edge really isn't too bad...
(Score: 2) by el_oscuro on Monday March 19 2018, @12:54AM
Micros~1 is just finally starting to add a proper implementation of content-security-policy [google.com] to Edge, something that *every* other browser has had for years.
SoylentNews is Bacon! [nueskes.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 19 2018, @02:40AM (1 child)
Firefox is less functional then NCSA Mosaic at this point. With the exception of ad-blocking no relevant features exist past what existed in the first web browser invented. There are dozens of missing broken and hidden features in Firefox.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 19 2018, @01:16PM
Well, yeah, but that's because Mozilla has been busy for the last several years turning every feature into an extension and then decided to remove support for those extensions.