creepy microsoft edge message--Halloween came early for me

brent

you are going to have to trust me because I did not have the patience to learn to use the WIN snip tool/

Poking around partner's WIN today..new install..Edge is the only browser,surprise..so I have to launch it. And when I launch it I type in Google Chrome and the real download page was buried in the top 10 results i.e. top ten mostly articles about Chrome, not a Chrome download.

All of that is normal and none of that is creepy, agreed.
Here's the creepy part. At the top of the Bing search page appeared a big green rectangle with black text.
It said "Microsoft Edge is built on Chrome and does everything that Chrome does. You do not need to get the Chrome Browser."

that made my blood run cold I am not lying. creepiness factor one a million reasons I left MS behind almost a decade ago. That HAL crap caught me off guard. If the box started with "Brent, MS Edge does everything...." I would burn sage..

@BuzzPCSOS was used that chris titus tool you showed me to remove Edge. Nicely done!

BuzzPCSOS

brent Not only get rid of Edge but also install a replacement browser no questions asked.
Somewhere up on the top right hand corner there is a box to tick for preferring Chocolatey. Setting that uses Chocolatey as the preferred install script above Winget which is Microsoft and always gave me pita.
Way back I used to look forward to MS updates with new features and better speed but now it just seems like a disaster movie. Don't even begin to get me started on Win11. So glad to no longer be reliant on Windows.

brent

Harvey To be fair, they are right. Edge is based on Chromium if you're simply installing Google Chrome you are gaining nothing including privacy.

This is for spousal unit not me, she likes her WIN. Both browsers care not a whit about privacy, I agree with you there, but I disagree with you completely that they are similar outside at all outside of the base. Edge is so busy, so gigantic, so ready to sync, and waaaaaaaay to chatty, so annoying, shiny, and bloated. Chrome, compared to Edge, is Lynx...I have to use this crap at work, I see it.
Trying to circumvent pdf's from auto-opening in Edge is a daily battle and I feel like Wile E. Coyote is his lab..🙂

BuzzPCSOS Somewhere up on the top right hand corner there is a box to tick for preferring Chocolatey. Setting that uses Chocolatey as the preferred install script above Winget which is Microsoft and always gave me pita.
Way back I used to look forward to MS updates with new features and better speed but now it just seems like a disaster movie

I saw that. I saw Chocolatey in the upper left--I never tried it. Winget has to be fetched when you fire Titus up the first time. Ugh. Agree with the rest. Having to dip my toes in and configure reminds of what I don't miss at all.

BuzzPCSOS So glad to no longer be reliant on Windows.

YEP I miss nothing about those days at all.

Harvey

To be fair, they are right. Edge is based on Chromium if you're simply installing Google Chrome you are gaining nothing including privacy.

paulscottrobson

Ah Edge ....
"Do you want to install a new browser"
"Are you sure you don't want Edge to be the default"
"There are 137 registered mimetypes that use Edge, sadly you have to set them all individually for technical reasons we have just made up"
"Edge is a secure browser, so your browser is a security risk"
"Edge is no longer the default browser. To continue with your current browser enter the complete works of William Shakespeare in Hebrew backwards, or to switch to Edge press Return. This computer will not boot until you have decided which"
"Use Edge or we'll send the boys round"
"Edge as default is a prerequisite to decoding all your encrypted documents which we sneaked in in para 317 of the latest EULA change"

brent

paulscottrobson Edge as default is a prerequisite to decoding all your encrypted documents which we sneaked in in para 317 of the latest EULA change"

ahh, you read it too 🙂