A window to nervous and cunning competition?
I have a weakness for drama.
Especially when it comes to espionage, sneaky behavior, and uncontrolled anger.
I ate a big bucket of hibiscus flavored popcorn, therefore when I heard that some Chrome and Firefox users were accusing Microsoft of covert activities.
I was alerted to a Reddit thread offering disturbing claims. Redditor sample krankie: “I was immediately annoyed at how invasive this is. I’m a software developer, so I’m sensitive to these kinds of user interface tricks.”
And I’m sensitive to the beginnings of a fighting rampage. When the likes of Microsoft raise the hassles of a software developer, you have the characteristics of a scandalous saga.
In this case, these Redditors said Microsoft is insisting on its unsuspecting Edge browser in Windows 10.
Redditor krankie continued: “There is no option to get rid of the window, you cannot close Edge with the mouse and you cannot escape the modal window. The only option if you do not want to ‘Start’ is to use the task manager to kill Even when you does, pin it to your taskbar, places an Edge icon on your desktop, disables your default browser, so the next time you click on a URL from a shortcut, you will have to choose your default browser again. Apparently, it ingests data from other browsers without your permission. ”
And there he expected Microsoft to be at least a little more honorable than Google, which has been upset recently that Gmail users may have switched to Edge.
Redditor Rexington was also discouraged: “Yes, I did not authorize Edge to copy my Firefox / Chrome data at any time. I have jumped over many obstacles in trying to maintain a certain level of privacy with this operating system. Finally, it just takes my data without giving me the option to choose not to participate. ”
Naturally, I contacted Microsoft to ask if (or why) I was being so eerily cunning. A Microsoft spokeswoman told me, “We believe that the browser data belongs to the client and they have the right to decide what to do with it. Like other browsers, Microsoft Edge offers people the opportunity to import data during setup.”
Oh come now. The trick of “defending people’s rights”? The “everyone’s doing it” argument?
Offering people an opportunity is one thing. Offering them an opportunity that is too difficult for them to refuse is something associated with an older and uglier Mafiosoft.
I deepened a deeper touch. It seems like, and I’m paraphrasing as best I can, you need to be very careful in rejecting Microsoft’s aggressive browser approaches. Swiping left just won’t do it.
Basically Redmond believes that you can discard the personal data of the browser that you imported so usefully. If you’re still patient, that’s it.
But if the Edge browser ends, um, prematurely, for example, if you get Task Manager to do it, there may be some residual data left.
I am trying to be delicate here. I understand that the setup process is such that if you bother and just try to turn it off before it’s done, you can get precisely the unpleasant surprise these Redditors experienced.
There is something worse, of course. Many people are linked to Windows, but they don’t necessarily understand all its nuances. They offer you confidence. They just want it to work. So, as these Redditors pointed out, parents and grandparents, and many other relatives, may even be using Edge as their default, happily imported personal data, inadvertently.
This is sad and a little bit unattractive. And, as Microsoft sneaks around, exactly what you’d expect a tech company to do.
If they think they can get away with it, well, they will certainly leave that option open.
It’s a shame as if you voluntarily download Edge, which I did, you may find it to be a really good browser.
But if you find that some of your personal data is left behind because you didn’t say goodbye to Edge the right way, Microsoft may be bothering you permanently.
Personally, I’m still a little annoyed with Microsoft, as the company keeps asking me to download Edge, with ads in my Outlook inbox, even though I’ve already done so.
I’m not sure tech companies have figured out how not to be annoying. I blame the people who work for them.
