5 ms·

Microsoft, there's no need to do this. I already use Edge because its features and quality, don't make me regret it.

manderley 5y ago
What quality? A buggy version of Chrome (the start page has been broken multiple times, for example) with tons of half-baked extra features?
- birksherty 5y ago
  > tons of half-baked extra features Not sure about that. I find chrome way too annoying. To see history new tab needs to be opened, download bar below with no way to see all without new tab. Edge fixed these issues with toolbar buttons, some new flag options, web capture, read aloud, startup boost etc are quite helpful. Block ntp.msn.com & assets.msn.com in hosts file to block start page completely if anyone don't like it, which I'm not sure if can be done with chrome without blocking google. This makes my experience better than chrome.
mongol 5y ago
I even tried it on Linux, and liked it. But I do not accept these kind of tricks there. It would be a pity if they breach my trust.
Someone1234 5y ago
What's frustrating is that Microsoft wins by default because most users will never alter the defaults or even understand they have that choice. All this nonsense does is upset power users. Power users will be annoyed but not stopped by this stuff, and by annoying them you've created a negative atmosphere around your products that they will share with less technical users. Same thing as not allowing an "opt out" over analytics. I get that the analytics are useful, but if only 0.1% of your users are willing to opt out, is the negativity/fight really worth influential users spending years shit-talking you? Microsoft makes some really boneheaded decisions to be honest. Apple is way better at the subtle sleight of hand monopolistic stuff, Microsoft is like a bull in a china shop.
- Daneel_ 5y ago
  Exactly! I couldn’t agree more. I’ve always said that you need to look after power users’ interests, because even though they’re a small percentage of your user base they’re the ones who influence everyone else. A single power user will likely influence their immediate family, their classmates, work colleagues, friends, relations.. easily a broad spread of people. Neglect power users at your peril.
  - endemic 5y ago
    > Neglect power users at your peril. I mean, I like this sentiment, and _want_ it to be true (hey $BIGCO, I matter!). But MS has already weathered a storm of bad PR regarding Win10 telemetry, and hasn't changed anything. What are people going to do, stop using Windows?
    - Daneel_ 5y ago
      Disabling telemetry isn't the kind of 'power user' feature I'm talking about though. Power user features are all about providing flexibility in the way you operate the tools, eg, customising layouts, options for workflow customisation, shortcut keys, command-line tools/options, etc. By repeatedly reverting the choice to use a different browser as the default, Microsoft is actively hostile toward power users.
- slim 5y ago
  Eventually MS figured out it actually those power users because they were developers. So they made visual studio code to lock them down like it's 1995.
  - fartcannon 5y ago
    Your power user status gets debuffed every time you fall for a Microsoft trick.
anttiharju 5y ago
I even use it on my Debian 11 install and android! It's pretty good.
- brnt 5y ago
  It's just about the chattiest browser that you can find. I cant't fathom why a Debian user would settle for it.
  - anttiharju 5y ago
    It's a weird choice, yeah. I have to do most of my university work on Windows anyway so I'm not too worried about the telemetry. Edge is the closest to a cross-platform "it just works" experience I've had. All bookmarks sync between my android phone, windows and Debian. Plus I don't have to keep messing with the about:config after a clean install to disable whatever new UI features or services Mozilla has introduced in the latest Firefox update. My only complaint is that Edge doesn't always respect my choice of search engine, for example the new tab search field at least used to redirect everything to Bing. But these can be worked around for now with relatively little effort.
_arvin 5y ago
Well said. I use Edge in my Windows 11 VM (for Fidelity Active Trader Pro) and I like Edge a lot. Might reconsider now.

What quality? A buggy version of Chrome (the start page has been broken multiple times, for example) with tons of half-baked extra features?

birksherty 5y ago
> tons of half-baked extra features Not sure about that. I find chrome way too annoying. To see history new tab needs to be opened, download bar below with no way to see all without new tab. Edge fixed these issues with toolbar buttons, some new flag options, web capture, read aloud, startup boost etc are quite helpful. Block ntp.msn.com & assets.msn.com in hosts file to block start page completely if anyone don't like it, which I'm not sure if can be done with chrome without blocking google. This makes my experience better than chrome.

mongol 5y ago

I even tried it on Linux, and liked it. But I do not accept these kind of tricks there. It would be a pity if they breach my trust.

Someone1234 5y ago

What's frustrating is that Microsoft wins by default because most users will never alter the defaults or even understand they have that choice. All this nonsense does is upset power users. Power users will be annoyed but not stopped by this stuff, and by annoying them you've created a negative atmosphere around your products that they will share with less technical users. Same thing as not allowing an "opt out" over analytics. I get that the analytics are useful, but if only 0.1% of your users are willing to opt out, is the negativity/fight really worth influential users spending years shit-talking you? Microsoft makes some really boneheaded decisions to be honest. Apple is way better at the subtle sleight of hand monopolistic stuff, Microsoft is like a bull in a china shop.

Daneel_ 5y ago
Exactly! I couldn’t agree more. I’ve always said that you need to look after power users’ interests, because even though they’re a small percentage of your user base they’re the ones who influence everyone else. A single power user will likely influence their immediate family, their classmates, work colleagues, friends, relations.. easily a broad spread of people. Neglect power users at your peril.
- endemic 5y ago
  > Neglect power users at your peril. I mean, I like this sentiment, and _want_ it to be true (hey $BIGCO, I matter!). But MS has already weathered a storm of bad PR regarding Win10 telemetry, and hasn't changed anything. What are people going to do, stop using Windows?
  - Daneel_ 5y ago
    Disabling telemetry isn't the kind of 'power user' feature I'm talking about though. Power user features are all about providing flexibility in the way you operate the tools, eg, customising layouts, options for workflow customisation, shortcut keys, command-line tools/options, etc. By repeatedly reverting the choice to use a different browser as the default, Microsoft is actively hostile toward power users.
slim 5y ago
Eventually MS figured out it actually those power users because they were developers. So they made visual studio code to lock them down like it's 1995.
- fartcannon 5y ago
  Your power user status gets debuffed every time you fall for a Microsoft trick.

anttiharju 5y ago

I even use it on my Debian 11 install and android! It's pretty good.

brnt 5y ago
It's just about the chattiest browser that you can find. I cant't fathom why a Debian user would settle for it.
- anttiharju 5y ago
  It's a weird choice, yeah. I have to do most of my university work on Windows anyway so I'm not too worried about the telemetry. Edge is the closest to a cross-platform "it just works" experience I've had. All bookmarks sync between my android phone, windows and Debian. Plus I don't have to keep messing with the about:config after a clean install to disable whatever new UI features or services Mozilla has introduced in the latest Firefox update. My only complaint is that Edge doesn't always respect my choice of search engine, for example the new tab search field at least used to redirect everything to Bing. But these can be worked around for now with relatively little effort.

_arvin 5y ago

Well said. I use Edge in my Windows 11 VM (for Fidelity Active Trader Pro) and I like Edge a lot. Might reconsider now.