In the past few days, there has been significant criticism leveled at Microsoft for sneakily installing web applications and free advertising for its applications in the start menu of your Windows 10 PC. Criticism and rightly so. This was widely reported globally by tech media and there was significant talk on social media as well. Clearly, Microsoft listened to the feedback and confirmed that they are pausing the stealth install of apps that it didn’t want in the first place. Microsoft also says that this happened in part due to a bug. Said and done, this is just another instance that reinforces the belief that you don’t actually own your Windows 10 PC, in its live, constantly updating avatar.
Microsoft has shared a statement with The Verge, which pointed out last week how Microsoft forcibly rebooted a Windows 10 PC to install Progressive Web Applications (PWAs) and used the Start menu on the PC to advertise its Office applications. Microsoft also forced the PC to restart, while it was used for document editing and more. Microsoft has clarified, as reported by The Verge, that “the idea was that any website you pinned to the Start menu would launch in Microsoft Edge, and it was simply intended to make those shortcuts more visible now.” The part where the bug plays its supposed role is that the update also changed existing Microsoft Office shortcuts in a Windows 10 start menu in PWA to open with the Edge web browser. This behavior was reported even if the default browser on the Windows PC in question was something else, such as Google Chrome or Microsoft Firefox.
Microsoft also says that it has been pinning Office web apps to the Windows 10 start menu since last year. That practice in itself can be a bit dubious, as a user must have full control over their PC and how they use it. Second, why would PWAs override the default web browser option set on a Windows 10 PC and open Microsoft Edge instead? Users also reported that to install these updates that were downloaded in the background and without prompts or user confirmation, PCs were also rebooted without permission.
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