Microsoft’s new Windows prompts try to stop people downloading Chrome • Hacker News Board

Re: Microsoft’s new Windows prompts try to stop people downloading Chrome

#161

Post by n8cpdx » Thu, Dec 02, 2021, 4:01 PM UTC

aquir wrote: post #96

It's a shame the Linux is still "not there" to be a good replacement for Windows. I keep trying but having stupid issues all time, like my laptop is identified as a mobile device when connected to a Bluetooth multipoint headset so I can't connect to my phone and laptop in the same time :( Scaling is awful and unfortunately simply there are no good drivers for certain hardware. Windows 11 is awful, I went back to 10 w…

Drivers for certain hardware is still a huge issue. I have hardware that I just won’t attempt to install Linux on because devs don’t think exotic setups (like Intel integrated graphics AND an nvidia GPU) are worth supporting.

But everything else seems to be much improved lately. I’ve got Ubuntu running on my laptop and it works with my Magic Trackpad (including gestures), 4k display with fractional scaling, and 1080p low-dpi display simultaneously. I wasn’t sure they would ever get there. Everything pretty much works.

The App Store is still garbage and the whole Snap concept seems to work much worse overall than Flatpack. But I have faith they will get their act together eventually.

Re: Microsoft’s new Windows prompts try to stop people downloading Chrome

#162

Post by chaorace » Thu, Dec 02, 2021, 4:02 PM UTC

twobitshifter wrote: post #135

Ok, so I don’t condone this behavior by Microsoft or Google, but I do use edge at work since we are a Microsoft heavy company with Sharepoint, teams, outlook, and all that. If we were using Google I’d surely use Chrome, but edge bakes in your Microsoft work profile to the browser and when searching on Bing you can find documents on your internal network easily. I also like the fact that edge supports vertical tabs ou…

> Google promotes Chrome on YouTube, search, and gmail. Strategically Microsoft needs a message to counter the pop ups on Google sites that are leading to the Chrome download page

You know what I say to that? Tough cookies. Websites and OSes have different responsibilities to their users -- if MS wants to use shady cross-promotion tactics like Google, they should provide web services that justify the annoyance and do their cross-promotion there.

Why are we making computers harder to use for the everyman? It's such a grossly short-sighted decision that will only serve to further the divide between an increasingly mobile-oriented consumer class and a primarily desktop-oriented professional class.

Re: Microsoft’s new Windows prompts try to stop people downloading Chrome

#163

Post by jaywalk » Thu, Dec 02, 2021, 4:02 PM UTC

s_dev wrote: post #112

ChuckNorris89 wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And where can I download the current build of Safari for Windows?

https://support.apple.com/downloads/safari

I'm not the smartest guy in the world, but I don't think .dmg files do much good on Windows.

Re: Microsoft’s new Windows prompts try to stop people downloading Chrome

#164

Post by overtonwhy » Thu, Dec 02, 2021, 4:03 PM UTC

Every feature update they try to get you to reset your browser preferences. And sometimes it'll say "oops! Something went wrong and we had to reset your browser preferences."

Re: Microsoft’s new Windows prompts try to stop people downloading Chrome

#165

Post by robbrown451 » Thu, Dec 02, 2021, 4:03 PM UTC

"Microsoft Edge runs on the same technology as Chrome, with the added trust of Microsoft."

Hmmm, can I trust you to not put your own ads onto competitors websites?

That is beyond f'd up. Will they never learn?

Re: Microsoft’s new Windows prompts try to stop people downloading Chrome

#166

Post by LegitShady » Thu, Dec 02, 2021, 4:04 PM UTC

tehbeard wrote: post #140

NikolaeVarius wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What the hell are you doing with your Windows profiles. I've admin'd many Windows machines and have a Windows install AND a VM windows install and have literally never had a problem with windows profile. Have you at least attempted to debug the issue, or can you point to a issue report you have filed? This is someone who uses linux for 99.99% of all computing things, so its not like I'm a Windows shill

I just accept that 10 is buggy at this point and have no desire for an even buggier/jankier 11. Current bugs: - every MS app store app has the windows image preview program icon, despite following every guide I could find to fix this. - sometimes WiFi just dies, and won't come back until I disable the card, full reboot, then enable it (Intel 6 chipset AFAIK, so not some noname brand) - explorer randomly dies when swi…

>- explorer randomly dies when switching virtual desktops and then comes back. I've had this one 3 machines now and I've no clue why.

Were you using an Nvidia graphics card and did you right click on the left box of explorer where the quick access toolbar is? This is a common issue with Nvidias context menu in that situation.

Re: Microsoft’s new Windows prompts try to stop people downloading Chrome

#167

Post by mook » Thu, Dec 02, 2021, 4:05 PM UTC

kgwxd wrote: post #90

dgellow wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They are both bad.

Phone OSes got/get away with it because they came out of the gate doing it. MS and Apple have been trying to convert their PC OSes into the same thing ever since. They're envious of Chrome OS. "Compatibility", "standards based" and "open platform" used to be badges of honor. In my opinion, MS and Google would be better off sticking to being open, because if everyone is forced to chose between walled gardens, Apple is…

I've been using Firefox as my browser on my Android phone for something like six or seven years now (I guess I'm weird). I don't recall any hard pushes to switch to Chrome. Using a non-Blink browser there is probably rare enough that making people switch isn't worth it.

The websites don't seem to want to support Firefox, so Google definitely isn't blameless, but we should probably at least blame them correctly.

Re: Microsoft’s new Windows prompts try to stop people downloading Chrome

#168

Post by technobabbler » Thu, Dec 02, 2021, 4:06 PM UTC

jefftk wrote: post #158

technobabbler wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Firefox, for all it's modern faults, is the only browser that's actually different in any substantial way. That's the thing. I don't WANT a browser that's actually different. The web is a duopoly between Apple and Google, and everything else is a second-class citizen. The era of an "open" web came and went, passing us by as capitalism took over. Firefox offers no meaningful freedom when all the content it's suppose…

> Mozilla ... has introduced a lot more dark patterns than Chrome has What are you referring to?

Stuff like this (not my post): https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29416956

I just remember that every time I reopen Firefox (to test it for something), some new annoying thing like Pocket or some other trendy extension I didn't ask for has suddenly appeared. And it's always bugging me with CHECK OUT WHAT WE ADDED popups. I don't CARE about your new features, just let me browse the web and stay outta the way, damn it.

Re: Microsoft’s new Windows prompts try to stop people downloading Chrome

#169

Post by dralley » Thu, Dec 02, 2021, 4:07 PM UTC

mistrial9 wrote: post #137

loudtieblahblah wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

i just don't see the point, from a consumer perspective, in all the major players fighting over who's version of Chromium is the most preferred. I get why the company's care - i just don't get why anyone else does. Firefox, for all it's modern faults, is the only browser that's actually different in any substantial way.

> Firefox, for all it's modern faults, is the only browser that's actually different in any substantial way. as a casual reader, I know this is false.. several HUGE efforts, have failed to gain the eyeballs of readers . repeating that there is only one choice, is not useful or constructive right?

How many alternative browsers can you name that are not mere forks of Blink or Webkit?

Re: Microsoft’s new Windows prompts try to stop people downloading Chrome

#170

Post by zamadatix » Thu, Dec 02, 2021, 4:07 PM UTC

bityard wrote: post #108

catfishx wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, its almost as high as Edges market share

"Almost as high" is a strange way to put it since its popularity has been dropping steadily over the last decade. And Edge market share is only going up. Now that Firefox is no longer in the top 3 (in the Western market, further down world-wide), we can expect it to lose relevance even more quickly. Especially since Mozilla leadership has studiously avoided any effort to differentiate themselves from from Google/Chro…

An Edge's worth of desktop browser usage share of users are searching for different browsers is why it wouldn't even be worth an hour of dev time to show the message?

The point GP made was Firefox was worth targeting not that Firefox is going to be more popular the Edge.