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: 5, Insightful) by stretch611 on Sunday March 18 2018, @12:34AM (3 children)
This article is a great follow-up on the earlier story... It's March 2018 and Your Windows PC Can Be Pwned By a Web Article [soylentnews.org].
What can go wrong?!?
Now with 5 covid vaccine shots/boosters altering my DNA :P
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 18 2018, @12:36AM (1 child)
Well, you could open a Microsoft brand web browser.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 18 2018, @01:17AM
Or mail app.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 18 2018, @03:20AM
Fuck proprietary software. And fuck beta.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Virindi on Sunday March 18 2018, @12:42AM (1 child)
They know that the antitrust enforcement threat is over in the US. They learned their lesson and now supply the appropriate, er, donations to both political parties.
I bet they aren't stupid enough to do this on EU installations though.
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 18 2018, @01:19AM
Here, hold my latte.
(Score: 2) by captain normal on Sunday March 18 2018, @01:14AM (17 children)
Are there actually people who still use these things? Even if they sometimes (or usually) use a Win OS?
When life isn't going right, go left.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Sunday March 18 2018, @01:23AM (7 children)
Sadly, yes. Pick a random work place, that isn't technical. For that matter, you can probably do the same with a lot of tech places - the average worker isn't necessarily technically sophisticated. Start talking to people about browsers, or anything computer related. People are simply out of touch, technically. They don't know, don't care to know. Whatever comes default on their computer, is what they use, and default is Microsoft.
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 18 2018, @02:52AM (4 children)
THIS! I can't tell you how many of my clients go blank when you ask them which browser they use.
"I don't know what that means. I just click on my Internet."
So many of them are so clueless, I wonder why they even have a computer.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 18 2018, @03:22AM
They're telling you that they do know what it means, and they believe you're being arrogant by asking instead of just being a good little boy and fixing it.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 18 2018, @01:02PM (1 child)
What's a computer?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 19 2018, @12:19PM
> What's a computer?
I'm so glad my 4 year old daughter knows what a computer is (and that they come in all shapes and sizes).
That advert makes me so angry. I'm not sure if it is the specific not-knowing-what-a-computer-is or the celebrating of ignorance that annoys me more.
(Score: 3, Funny) by HiThere on Sunday March 18 2018, @05:39PM
It took me literally years to get my wife to not think the browser was part of the operating system. I don't think I ever did convince her that the monitor wasn't the computer. Of course, at some point she switched to a laptop, and I gave up on that argument.
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 18 2018, @09:10PM (1 child)
I do work for a *major* corporation. They are currently doing an audit and making sure all machines are using IE 11 and removing other browsers while they prep for an update to Windows 10 and Edge. It isn't limited to non-technical companies.
(Score: 2) by Wootery on Wednesday March 21 2018, @11:35AM
In Microsoft's defence, IE11 and Edge are much better than the old IEs.
(Sent from Firefox, for what that's worth.)
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Sunday March 18 2018, @01:30AM (3 children)
"Bing (or whatever it is now)"
Bing is not bing?
Bong?
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Sunday March 18 2018, @02:07AM
More like boing as the gears and springs pop out of my computer.
(Score: 2) by canopic jug on Sunday March 18 2018, @07:39AM (1 child)
You're saying it wrong. It is 病 pronounced bìng [digitaljournal.com]
Money is not free speech. Elections should not be auctions.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 18 2018, @08:19AM
[thumbs up emoji]
(Score: 1, Offtopic) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Sunday March 18 2018, @02:00AM (3 children)
Thurber he. Her
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 18 2018, @02:27AM (1 child)
MDCP
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Sunday March 18 2018, @09:28AM
As well as to Deputies in both Clark County Washington and Multnomah County Oregon.
I gave them all links to my article about all the CP in Bing.
The FBI never responded.
The Deputies both told me to Keep up the good work.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 2) by chromas on Monday March 19 2018, @04:37PM
Not sure what the comment is but I concur with the title. Bing is more superiorerer to than Google for porn search.
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Sunday March 18 2018, @02:18AM
Sadder, there are many people who don't know what the term "operating system" is. They don't know the term "browser". They don't know what "app" means or where it derived from. They don't know what an email client is, or what "webmail" means. They think "device" is a proper name. If they know their computer runs Windows, they likely have no idea what version; but since MS has been forcing "upgrades" to Win10, I guess it's safe to assume most of them would be on 10 by now.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Sunday March 18 2018, @01:33AM (10 children)
The US is monopoly crazy, so they won't intervene. But, the EU can find MS in violation of monopoly laws, and order MS to refund full price of every copy of Windows sold in the EU, as well as paying a fine or equal value. Basically, everyone in Europe gets his Windows for free, and the EU takes all the profit that MS made in North America, and part of the rest of the world.
If that were enforced, MS would probably learn their lesson.
On the other hand - MS forced Win10 on most users without charge. Could be I'm wrong. MS just might consider that to be a win-win situation.
(Score: 2) by Spamalope on Sunday March 18 2018, @01:37AM (1 child)
On the other hand - MS forced Win10 on most users without charge. Could be I'm wrong. MS just might consider that to be a win-win situation.
They would once they crippled a few key features and then offered to allow it to work as an upsell. Or end security update support unless you pay on the eve of the next zero day release.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by anubi on Sunday March 18 2018, @08:44AM
First, they will "give" us WIN10, displacing any possibility of fallback. Wait a while longer, and you will find ads popping up on your screen, no matter what you are doing. Just like Google is doing now with YouTube. System function. You aren't the sole source of system input, you know. You will not have the option to shut them down.
Wanna get rid of the ads? Just purchase the monthly or annual pass. Just like YouTube Red.
Third-party ad blockers? Illegal. If your system detects attempts, your system will report you back to Microsoft. You will be punished. Likely by automated security update that not only removes your "infringing" code, your machine will run very slow to punish you, maybe double or quadruple your ad allocation for a limited time as penance for your transgression in lieu of getting a courtroom involved. You can't do anything about it because Congress has already deemed reverse-engineering and modification of code without "rightsholder" consent illegal.
Works just like an animal trap... bait it with a juicy morsel, and soon you have the entire animal caged and at your disposal. Businesses design the trap, and Congress provides the steel wire that animal teeth can't violate.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 18 2018, @01:44AM
"If that were enforced, MS would probably learn their lesson."
So long as this time Microsoft isn't allowed to pay their fines in the appropriate number of copies of microsoft software at retail value.
(Score: 3, Informative) by FakeBeldin on Sunday March 18 2018, @08:05AM (3 children)
Browser market share: https://www.netmarketshare.com/browser-market-share.aspx [netmarketshare.com]
Edge is barely distinguishable from 0%, unlike other browsers.
Mail clients: MailChimp's blog [mailchimp.com], or https://litmus.com/blog/email-client-market-share-trends-1h-2017 [litmus.com]
Conclusion: MS clients have between a 0% and 11% market share.
Conclusion: Microsoft doesn't have anything close to a monopoly in these markets. If they manage to consolidate all their users into one browser, it'll mean a significant bump for their browser, and it might *just* push it over the edge between "who cares" and "let's care".
Apple doing this might resemble monopoly: their mail apps combined constitute over 50% of the market.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 18 2018, @02:56PM (2 children)
That not the point.
The problem is that they abuse their Windows monopoly in order to force things down their users' throat.
(Score: 2) by FakeBeldin on Sunday March 18 2018, @10:58PM (1 child)
No, the article is about Microsoft abusing their mail app "monopoly" to froce things down their users' throats.
The point I made is that they do not have a monopoly there, not by a long shot.
And that's why I don't think any jurisdiction will slap this down. No court will say "ooh that's a monopoly" if Microsoft's market share is so small that it can easily be overlooked.
Back when the EU fined Microsoft for forcing users to use Internet Explorer, Microsoft controlled a huge percentage of the home and work desktops (don't have numbers, but I wouldn't be surprised by 90% or higher). But that's not what this is about. This story is about Microsoft leveraging its tiny, tiny marketshare of at best (combined over all MS's mail offerings) 11%, to promote its browser that has a share of 3.99%.
First of all, if Apple did this, it would be a different ball game. Apple accounts for 49% of mailers (see reference above), but its browser has a tiny install base. Getting the 49% of Apple mail users to use Safari for the web would be something. Getting the 7% of folks using Outlook to also use Edge? Likely, half of them already do.
Which leads to the second point. The interesting story here is that MS is choosing to deviate from OS-level preferences. This basically undermines the whole premise of using preferences. And they are deliberately willing to do so, in order to give their own browser a push.
That's much more of a story than "MS will use its non-existent market share in one area to boost its non-existent market share in another."
(Score: 2) by lentilla on Monday March 19 2018, @08:50AM
You mean like how Windows ignores the HOSTS file whenever it feels the urge?
This is just another chapter documenting a consistent, ongoing and untrustworthy pattern of behaviour.
(Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Sunday March 18 2018, @11:10PM
That was a while ago now, I would imagine there are a lot more paid for licenses out there now.
The bit in TFA I thought was weird was: 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.
Ignoring people’s default browser choice is stupid as hell. I have made a choice, just respect it.
I can't decide whether Linuxmint KDE or Kubuntu will be what I move to. I won't be able to play Civ VI, but Civ V runs fine, so never mind.
(Score: 2) by kazzie on Monday March 19 2018, @06:43AM (1 child)
How does that work for all the 'forced' free upgrades from Windows 7/8?
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Monday March 19 2018, @11:06AM
Well, if a person paid nothing, he may be owed nothing for a refund. Or, he might claim that he has "lost" something, such a privacy, and claim a refund of the advertised retail price anyway. Depends on how a person looks at the forced upgrades. If it happened to me, it would be an unwanted upgrade. My wife runs a Windows machine, and we took all steps that we knew about to prevent any upgrades from 7. So far, it has worked. If she turns the computer on tomorrow, and finds that it has been "upgraded", we'll be raising hell about it.
As for the "fines" portion of my idea - just count every copy of Win10 as a retail sale, no problem.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Gaaark on Sunday March 18 2018, @01:34AM (4 children)
How much do people have to be fucked with before they get pissed off and decide to not get fucked with anymore?
Seriously!
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 2) by MostCynical on Sunday March 18 2018, @02:42AM (1 child)
All the people. All the time, and they come back for more.
Willful ignorance cannot explain it, anymore.
Reckless indifference?
Plain masochism?
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 18 2018, @06:59AM
Fear of having to click on things that are different.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by maxwell demon on Sunday March 18 2018, @08:11AM
They have been taught that being fucked with is normal, and believe if they change, it will just be someone else who fucks with them.
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 1) by noneof_theabove on Sunday March 18 2018, @10:50PM
Never....
Look what happened in Nov 2016 and they were warned that Cadet Bone Spurs was building a path to SLUS [Supreme Leader of PRNA [Peoples Republic of North America]].
The US is suffering a sever case of MFN, Me First Now, and don't give a flea's ass hair about anything else.
(Score: -1, Troll) by cocaine overdose on Sunday March 18 2018, @02:02AM (46 children)
(Score: 0, Troll) by cocaine overdose on Sunday March 18 2018, @02:04AM (24 children)
--------------------------------------------------------------
My kike, ro-ro shaft the user funds to-be-deposited: 42 cents
(Score: 5, Insightful) by aristarchus on Sunday March 18 2018, @08:25AM (23 children)
It is so sad, what a person will do to get more cocaine. They claim it is not addictive, but when you see someone lower themselves like this, oh, the misery! Get some help, go clean and sober, and never shill for Micro$erf again. Everyone will be better off.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 18 2018, @08:44AM
Weak. Sauce.
(Score: 1, Flamebait) by cocaine overdose on Sunday March 18 2018, @01:02PM (21 children)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 18 2018, @03:28PM (15 children)
Pretty sure the only thing you're looking forward to is another line of coke. PS - Get your typewriter fixed, grandpa.
(Score: 0, Troll) by cocaine overdose on Sunday March 18 2018, @03:32PM (14 children)
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Azuma Hazuki on Sunday March 18 2018, @03:49PM (13 children)
He means "using monospace font for conversation rather than code is an autistic, cabbage-smelling piece of low-level sociopathy and people who do it are scum." He's telling you to use a standard font when you comment.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 1) by cocaine overdose on Sunday March 18 2018, @03:58PM (12 children)
(Score: 4, Funny) by Azuma Hazuki on Sunday March 18 2018, @04:47PM (11 children)
Oh, it's a really involved process. You'll need a bottle of Mountain Dew, a ball-peen hammer, and your computer. You see, standard fonts are rounder and fuller than mono fonts, and the reason for this is that mono fonts are dehydrated. Your keyboard's may also have gotten "stuck" in mono-font mode. So what you'll need to do is, right before you start typing a post, pour the entire bottle of 'Dew over your keyboard, wait about 15 seconds, then hit the keyboard riiiiiiight in the center with the hammer a few times. The switches will get nicely lubricated by the soda, and you'll be able to un-stick them from mono mode easier.
Let us know how it goes!
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 1) by cocaine overdose on Sunday March 18 2018, @04:54PM (10 children)
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Monday March 19 2018, @04:00AM (9 children)
It's likely in your browser. What OS and browser do you use to post? Somewhere in the settings you should be able to set fonts.
It's possible your fonts aren't installed correctly, or just not enough of them, or they're corrupted.
If you cut-and-paste from something like Word or Notepad, the default font might be Courier 10, or mono, or whatever, and it carries into the comment edit box.
I'd start with the browser's font settings.
(Score: 1) by cocaine overdose on Monday March 19 2018, @04:21AM (8 children)
| This text was pasted as plain in Chromium |
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Monday March 19 2018, @06:00AM (7 children)
Very cool. I'm embarrassed to say I've never tried any of the BSDs. As such I have no idea what fonts are available to you, but you could experiment.
For the record, I'm probably more open-minded than most people seem to be these days, and I don't care about your font. In fact, the variety is interesting. But I understand that some people are annoyed by it. I'm somewhat sensitive to some things, like bad sound mixes.
I find Alpine Linux quite interesting for many reasons. It comes with midori web browser. Can't say I like it- barely tried it. It would be nice to have fewer, and better, web browsers.
(Score: 1) by cocaine overdose on Monday March 19 2018, @06:27AM (6 children)
Anyway, I've never tried Midori, but hopes aren't high. Most off the shelf browsers are regressed towards the mean, and any open source ones are very lacking in the JS department. If you have the time, I would recommend grabbing a copy of the Firefox source and hacking, and slashing, around the source code to make something personalized. Everything's already there, all you need to do is get rid of everything you don't need (and there's a lot). Chromium source works too.
The more people use web browsers, the more we'll inch closer to the perfect "average." It does no good for the individual user, but it sure does do a lot for Mozilla/Google/etc.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 19 2018, @10:18AM (5 children)
It's nothing to do with anything on your pc. Got to your Soylentnews page, https://soylentnews.org/~cocaine+overdose/ [soylentnews.org]
Click on the 'Comments' tab.
Scroll down to 'Comment Post Mode'
Change the value from 'Code' to 'Plain Old Text'
Save changes.
Tell that silly fucker Arik to do the same.
(Score: 1) by cocaine overdose on Monday March 19 2018, @12:36PM (4 children)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 19 2018, @12:43PM (3 children)
Well that's weird. Most people get four options:
- Plain Old Text
- HTML Formatted
- Extrans (html tags to text)
- Code
The Code option is what makes your comments monospace font. I guess try the HTML option.
(Score: 1) by cocaine overdose on Monday March 19 2018, @12:57PM (2 children)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 19 2018, @01:04PM (1 child)
And that comment is not monospace. Don't know how it will appear to other people though, my set-up is unusual. (Mageia linux with a bunch of odd setup choices.)
(Score: 1) by cocaine overdose on Monday March 19 2018, @01:25PM
(Score: 2) by captain normal on Sunday March 18 2018, @07:08PM (4 children)
Coke rants are more like yelling into the mike and holding the transmit key down all the time. Hardly qualify as "conversion".
When life isn't going right, go left.
(Score: 1) by cocaine overdose on Sunday March 18 2018, @07:36PM (3 children)
o
w
h
a
n
g
i
n
g
f
r
u
i
t
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 19 2018, @03:27AM (2 children)
So sad, CO doesn't like his attempt at "seriousness" so very mocked.
Get with it, people are tired of being manipulated and outright controlled by corporations. Hiding behind "that's business" is not a good enough excuse for shitty behavior.
(Score: 1) by cocaine overdose on Monday March 19 2018, @04:15AM (1 child)
(Score: 2) by deimtee on Monday March 19 2018, @10:23AM
Wasn't the first line enough?
If you cough while drinking cheap red wine it really cleans out your sinuses.
(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.
(Score: 5, Informative) by MostCynical on Sunday March 18 2018, @02:46AM (1 child)
Where is the "-1, Delusional" mod?
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 2) by cocaine overdose on Sunday March 18 2018, @01:04PM
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Azuma Hazuki on Sunday March 18 2018, @04:04AM (5 children)
This isn't even a good troll :(
Look, a good troll needs some finesse to it. You don't have that certain way with words some other people do, and you just come off sounding juvenile and intellectually limited instead of tough or trenchant or witty. It's the difference between lighting a fart and lighting a stick of dynamite in the middle of a crowded room.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by cocaine overdose on Sunday March 18 2018, @12:59PM (4 children)
(Score: 3, Informative) by Azuma Hazuki on Sunday March 18 2018, @03:11PM (1 child)
That was an even worse troll. Come on, you're not even trying now.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 1) by cocaine overdose on Sunday March 18 2018, @03:20PM
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 18 2018, @04:00PM (1 child)
I have to use Microsoft stuff at work, and if you think they're good at UX/UI design, I've got a nice bridge to sell you.
(Score: 2, Informative) by cocaine overdose on Sunday March 18 2018, @04:39PM
(Score: 3, Funny) by RS3 on Sunday March 18 2018, @02:10AM (2 children)
(Score: 3, Insightful) by LoRdTAW on Sunday March 18 2018, @02:25AM (1 child)
(Score: 3, Hopeful)
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Sunday March 18 2018, @03:10AM
I love my ivory tower. Visitors are always welcome.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by SomeGuy on Sunday March 18 2018, @02:36AM (2 children)
This is exactly one of the stunts they were pulling back in the days of Microsoft Internet Explorer 3 and 4. It was quite common for MS applications to only open IE, they "convinced" many third party applications to do the same, or otherwise futzed with/ignored setting. Of course they did truckloads worse, such as embedding their browser in applications, or even making a proxy server that for a time only let IE use it.
In this case IT DOES NOT MATTER WHICH BROWSER IS "BEST"! A user often sets the default browser because that is what they NEED to use. IE/Edge might not even be configured to access the internet! Perhaps the user's default browser has accessibility features that they NEED! Perhaps IE doesn't have all the ad blocker protections that the default browser does. Or perhaps the user might actually want to see their normal bookmarks and tool bar buttons without being sent in to some foreign program they never use!
Of course, after the Windows 8 fiasco (I'm guessing everyone has happily forgiven them and forgotten about it already) it is clear they don't give a rancid rat's shit any more and have their long term sights set on ramming the ground.
I know, I know, they will eventually "fix" this problem by simply forbidding the installation of any third party web browsers like they do on toy tablets. "Duuhhh... What's a competition?"
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 18 2018, @08:12AM (1 child)
I am still on SeaMonkey and WIN7.
It was a real eye-opener for me of things to come when Microsoft sent the FTDI USB/RS232 chip nuker of how much power anyone had to come through the Microsoft Security Update System to wreak havoc in my machine.
At that time, I figured I still had an operable system, and it was still within my capability to turn all future updates OFF, and sufficient information was on the web to tell me exactly which processes to kill off and rename so as to confound the system trying to fix itself. ( GRC: "Never10" and similar ). And get CloneZilla images... just in case I do something really stupid which allows some script to undo what I did.
I know its just a stopgap measure though. Embrace, Extend, Extinguish.
Microsoft has already taken away our ability to deny them anything, as well as gotten powerful copyright legislation and laws passed making it illegal for anyone else to research what's going on in gigabytes of code to see how these self-claimed wish-lists ("rights") are enforced.
Its now a matter of time before Microsoft determines just what you will be allowed to do, as well as know about everything you do on "your" machine. They now have the mechanisms and law in place so anyone who went WIN10 has very little control over their machine anymore. If Microsoft decides tomorrow that IE is the ONLY browser that will work on WIN10, they can send out a "security update" to make it so, and there isn't a thing anyone can do about it. Same if they want to know everytime the Microsoft Media Player ( the only one that will work since the Update ), that if any unauthorized content is played, that will go onto a list of folks of interest to the RIAA.
Even though our older systems will work, and they can be replicated, ( physically, maybe not legally ), they will be rendered useless by changing web standards, as new image and page formats are released, and many businessmen will easily fall for "new, modern" web pages that won't work with old "deprecated" browsers. Same thing that happened when I had to drop my financial advisor handling my retirement, because his web system could no longer talk to me on my older WIN95 based browser. I note his business is no longer around, but while it was, the businessman got what he wanted more than a customer, he got a handshake and smile of approval from someone selling him new technology that would not talk to his customer. Once a businessman gets money in his hand, his customer often pays the price. The businessman did not see through the scheme that Microsoft was pushing, trying to use my relationship with a financial advisor, to force me into another browser compliant with his new protocols.
I see us all going to "digital captivity", either controlling the 'net, or being controlled by it, unless we all start going en masse to a much simpler and understandable system.
We will all have to stand together on this though... as its pretty obvious that things like tax preparation software will probably soon only run on WIN10, and we ALL may have to insist the Government again provide blank tax forms, for us to fill in again by hand, pen, and ink, if they cannot provide means of paying tax which does not involve a WIN10 system. Its gotta be ALL of us... if its just some of us, we will be seen as outlier rednecks, and we will go down under men using guns.
I see that as the main difference between the 1 percenters and the rest of us. The one percenters WILL organize, work with Congress, get law passed to "protect" their monopoly, while us 99 percenters stand around and bleat, and any of us who get out of line get our ass handed back to us on a platter.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 18 2018, @12:45PM
So you are saying in time they will become Apple.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 18 2018, @11:09AM
> That’s not exactly true. Although Edge has gotten a lot better since it replaced Internet Explorer as the main Windows browser in 2015
I'm not sure a fork of its own codebase is "replacing", more like rebranding.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 18 2018, @12:36PM
Sounds like another suit in the making.
F-them.
(Score: 2) by corey on Sunday March 18 2018, @10:14PM (1 child)
Why are they going to lengths to force people to use their browser? Just marker share warm and fuzzies? Or something more sinister?
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Monday March 19 2018, @04:08PM
Market share isn't just about the warm fuzzies. IE hasn't been top dog for quite some time and Edge was never top dog.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"