With Edge, Microsoft's forced Windows updates just sank to a new low

[douglas9]

If I told you that my entire computer screen just got taken over by a new app that I’d never installed or asked for — it just magically appeared on my desktop, my taskbar, and preempted my next website launch — you’d probably tell me to run a virus scanner and stay away from shady websites, no?

But the insanely intrusive app I’m talking about isn’t a piece of ransomware. It’s Microsoft’s new Chromium Edge browser, which the company is now force-feeding users via an automatic update to Windows.

Seriously, when I restarted my Windows 10 desktop this week, an app I’d never asked for:

Immediately launched itself

Tried to convince me to migrate away from Chrome, giving me no discernible way to click away or say no

Pinned itself to my desktop and taskbar

Ignored my previous browser preference by asking me — the next time I launched a website — whether I was sure I wanted to use
Chrome instead of Microsoft’s oh-so-humble recommendation.

Did I mention that, as of this update, you can’t uninstall Edge anymore?


https://www.theverge.com/21310611/microsoft-edge-browser-forced-update-chromium-editorial

[Ponietz]

1. Squatter's rights

[katmondoo]

2. It is a terrible browser, I was able to uninstall it. It wanted to overtake everything causing me

to panic.

[AllaN01Bear]

5. sounds like m$ is up to its old tricks again.

early on, m$ tried to embed their web browser into the operating system, sounds like its at it again. there was a federal anti trust lawsuit on this .

[Squinch]

3. I use duckduckgo. Much better than anything by Microsoft. They

don't track you and they don't pull this crap

[Siwsan]

4. I just bought a new laptop and it is blocking me from downloading Chrome

It warns me I have to delete some sort of factory installed "S" program and once deleted it can't be restored so am I REALLY sure I want Chrome? YES! And it keeps trying to get me to upgrade to the new Edge but I really dislike the old one, so my answer is an unequivocal NO.

My extremely techie nephew is coming for a visit, this month, so I'm going to have him help me figure this out. Meanwhile, I have all of the Chrome apps I use added to the bookmarks.

Other weird thing is, when I tried adding this new laptop to my Norton protection plan that I get, free, via Xfinity, it says it doesn't recognize the operating system. Huh!?! So, next week I'm heading to my local Xfinity store for help with that little issue.

I got a really good price on this 2-way, touch screen laptop but now I'm kind of wishing I had kept looking for a flat out Chromebook.

[stopbush]

7. So delete the S program.

It’s a security program from MS that allows you to download only approved apps from the MS Store. The idea being that any app you download from them will not have malware, etc. Of course, once you’ve disabled it you can’t turn it back on as you’ve defeated the whole purpose of the thing the second you download an unapproved app.

[Siwsan]

10. Thanks!

I miss the old days when one could buy a new laptop, turn it on, maybe add a password and then be ready to go. I will say, though, that this HP was MUCH easier than the Lenovo I bought, to get up and running. That is, hands down, the worst laptop I've ever owned. It is related to the bedroom where, if I can't sleep, I can use it to watch the live streaming Wild Earth safari drive.

[stopbush]

11. I deleted the S program pretty early on when my son bought me an ASIS laptop

a few years ago. He was working for Microsoft at the time and gave me the lowdown on the S feature. Once deleted, downloading Chrome was a cinch.

[ManiacJoe]

17. The new Edge is much better than the old Edge.

The bookmark handling needs some work, but a plug-in fixes that for now.

Yes, get rid of the "S" version of Win10.

[MuseRider]

6. Oh great.

Mine has not updated recently. I tried Edge at first but it just did not cut it, it made you use things you did not want and just was not good. I tried it once again after several years, still not good. Now I can look forward to this. Terrific.

I am actually very happy with Windows10, this computer came with 8 and I switched over and I have not a single problem with it but Edge? Egads, this will take forever for me to figure out.

[in2herbs]

8. Same thing happened to me the other day. Didn't ask for it, don't want it. Was not aware it could

not be uninstalled.

Like you I couldn't find where to close out the window so I just did a soft reboot to get my browser back, but it still shows itself occasionally.

[Baitball Blogger]

9. When I purchased a new laptop recently,

I had to update Microsoft and they gave me all kinds of opportunities to opt out of their monopolistic control. Some of the things they were planning to do if I had agreed to their requests, were amazingly intrusive.

[woodsprite]

12. Week! This sounds like a nightmare for work.

I’m a lightweight web developer (a designer/QA
tester really, forcibly migrated into coding with Java, JavaScript, Eclipse, and Python, to free up programmers for “real programming”).

We have to be able to support Edge, but our users mainly use Firefox, Chrome, and Safari. And Our connection to work are constantly checked to make sure we have the latest updates.

Thanks for the “heads up”. Not looking forward to restarting my machine

[LizBeth]

13. Right. I threw it in trash and have been using chrome as usual with no interference from Edge.

But it was weird when it first came up. I was concerned. It was like it was taking over, for sure. I was pissed, until I wasn't any more cause it is not getting in my way.

[2naSalit]

14. It showed up as an update a week or so ago..

Was not identified as a browser so I installed it but as soon as it was identified and tried to take over my browsing, I uninstalled it, like two minutes later. I'm still using WIN7.

[ItsjustMe]

15. The Verge

[lastlib]

16. Last couple weeks or so, when I pull up Bing for a search,

it flashes a new splash-ad for Edge. I can't get rid of it or close it, so it must be hard-coded into Bing. Annoying as hell, but I won't be tempted to load another bloated, buggy, unhelpful Microsoft program that causes more annoyance than it gives in benefit. If my work didn't demand Windows and MS-Office, I would have a pure Linux machine.