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posted by martyb on Thursday September 13 2018, @02:14PM   Printer-friendly
from the don't-touch-that-dial! dept.

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

When you try to install the Firefox pr Chrome web browser on a recent Windows 10 version 1809 Insider build, you may notice that the installation gets interrupted by the operating system.

The intermediary screen that interrupts the installation states that Edge is installed on the device and that it is safer and faster than the browser that the user was about to install on the device.

Options provided are to open Microsoft Edge or install the other browser anyway. There is also an option to disable the warning type in the future but that leads to the Apps listing of the Settings application and no option to do anything about that.

[...] Companies like Google or Microsoft have used their market position in the past to push their own products. Google pushes Chrome on all of its properties when users use different browsers to connect to them, and Microsoft too displayed notifications on the Windows 10 platform to users who used other browsers that Edge was more secure or power friendly.

The intercepting of installers on Windows is a new low, however. A user who initiates the installation of a browser does so on purpose. The prompt that Microsoft displays claims that Edge is safer and faster, and it puts the Open Microsoft Edge button on focus and not the "install anyway" button.

-- submitted from IRC


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  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by urza9814 on Thursday September 13 2018, @02:42PM (13 children)

    by urza9814 (3954) on Thursday September 13 2018, @02:42PM (#734259) Journal

    Repeat offender [soylentnews.org]. This deserves excessive punitive fines. Let's hope the EU decides to do something about it...since we all know nobody else will...

    Starting Score:    1  point
    Moderation   +4  
       Insightful=2, Interesting=1, Informative=1, Total=4
    Extra 'Insightful' Modifier   0  
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   5  
  • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 13 2018, @03:02PM (6 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 13 2018, @03:02PM (#734277)

    the EU can shove it. bunch of socialist anti free-market bastards.

    • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Thursday September 13 2018, @03:15PM (4 children)

      by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Thursday September 13 2018, @03:15PM (#734284) Journal

      Oh, they'll shove it up MS arse.
      If only for the lulz. No, not only, for the money, too.

      --
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
      • (Score: 1, Disagree) by DannyB on Thursday September 13 2018, @04:43PM (3 children)

        by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Thursday September 13 2018, @04:43PM (#734320) Journal

        The job of the US DoJ is to punish companies for breaking the law and hurting consumers.

        The job of the EU is to punish companies for being successful while other companies wish they were as successful but are in the wrong business to be that successful.

        --
        To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
        • (Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Thursday September 13 2018, @05:46PM (1 child)

          by DeathMonkey (1380) on Thursday September 13 2018, @05:46PM (#734350) Journal

          The job of the US DoJ is to punish companies for breaking the law and hurting consumers.

          Which they did when they convicted MS of anti-competitive practices.

          Of course, GW Bush came along and let them off scott free.

          It appears they learned their lesson perfectly well.

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 14 2018, @04:20AM

            by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 14 2018, @04:20AM (#734694)

            Yeah, check their lobbying and political contributions now, especially compared to before the monopoly suit. They definitely learned their lesson, at least the ones the politicians and bureaucrats wanted them to learn.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 13 2018, @07:09PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 13 2018, @07:09PM (#734398)

          YEEEAAAAAAAH! 'MURICA!!!!!!!

          /sarcasm

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 13 2018, @04:53PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 13 2018, @04:53PM (#734326)

      You know what free markets do when you let them off the chain? Yeah, that's right, they EAT BABIES!

      Are you into eating babies? Are you a sick pedophile cannibal? Clean up your act sir before you get hired at the Whitehouse.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 13 2018, @04:12PM (4 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 13 2018, @04:12PM (#734303)

    Old need. Ms been doing for years. Talk about how ms blows up a good install daily with no way to stop it.

    • (Score: 5, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Thursday September 13 2018, @11:05PM (3 children)

      by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Thursday September 13 2018, @11:05PM (#734531) Journal

      no way to stop it.

      That isn't entirely accurate. I just asked the wife how old her installation of Windows 7 is. I'm not sure, she isn't either. We agree that it's more than six years old. Windows 7 is exactly what she wanted, and she's not willing to have it borked by Microsoft's insistence on "upgrades". She has her methods to ensure that her computer doesn't update/upgrade without her approval, and I helped her by killing the telemetry channels at the router. I read more techy news than she does, so I try to keep her updated to dangerous updates/upgrades. But, she has her own channels through which she learns of some of those dangers before I do.

      Yes, you CAN maintain a Microsoft computer, despite Microsoft's best efforts to screw it up. It just takes more effort than most people are willing to put into it.

      • (Score: 2) by fyngyrz on Thursday September 13 2018, @11:49PM (1 child)

        by fyngyrz (6567) on Thursday September 13 2018, @11:49PM (#734553) Journal

        Yes, you CAN maintain a Microsoft computer, despite Microsoft's best efforts to screw it up. It just takes more effort than most people are willing to put into it.

        Hell, I'm still running XP in a VM for cross-development; it's fine. Like most Microsoft products, it's not safe to let it go outside to play, so no network connections for it. Still, other than it having to virtually hang on the wall in a bundling bag, why, it's doing just fine!

        • (Score: 2) by HiThere on Friday September 14 2018, @12:38AM

          by HiThere (866) Subscriber Badge on Friday September 14 2018, @12:38AM (#734590) Journal

          Yeah, I was running MSWind95 until a year or two ago. But I never let it near the internet.

          --
          Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
      • (Score: 3, Informative) by toddestan on Friday September 14 2018, @03:22AM

        by toddestan (4982) on Friday September 14 2018, @03:22AM (#734678)

        By the way, if you type "systeminfo" at the command prompt, it will tell you the install date and a lot of other things too. My Windows 7 desktop was installed on 2/6/2012, 9:52:46 AM, which would correspond to when I assembled it originally.

        Part of this, of course, is to be careful about you install and allow to run on it.

  • (Score: 4, Interesting) by bob_super on Thursday September 13 2018, @04:51PM

    by bob_super (1357) on Thursday September 13 2018, @04:51PM (#734325)

    "Let me get over this again: You got slapped with a giant fine for simply bundling in your browser, which was a way to leverage your monopoly to kill the competition. What exactly makes you think that actively attempting to discourage people from installing other browsers isn't, let's say, about 10 times, plus inflation, worse?" - The EU