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The dark defaults of Microsoft Edge

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Re: The dark defaults of Microsoft Edge

#101

Post by aflag »

Nextgrid wrote: post #50
frankjr wrote: post #11

It would be interesting to hear what people outside of the HN bubble (or outside of tech in general) think about this. I bet a lot of people like seeing the news right after starting the browser because that's exactly why the opened the browser in the first place.

> I bet a lot of people like seeing the news right after starting the browser because that's exactly why the opened the browser in the first place. Does anyone, besides maybe the elderly (out of habit), use a desktop computer to read (clickbait, low-quality) news instead of their phone? As an anecdote, I know a non-technical Windows user who unlocks their machine by clicking the "like what you see?" prompt on the loc…

Even if the main purpose of people powering on their desktop PCs is not reading the news, I'm sure many (if not most) will still go through the news before, during and/or after they do the main activity they set out to do.

Re: The dark defaults of Microsoft Edge

#104

Post by pavel_lishin »

Nextgrid wrote: post #94
mihaic wrote: post #82

As a Windows user since version 3.1, ever since Windows 11 I've been thinking of migrating to KDE+Ubuntu. It's sad that Microsoft clearly has talented developers, but their product people seem to be like an Apple that is openly hostile.

The difference is that Apple, at least until Catalina/Big Sur/Ventura, had good taste . They force you into their workflows or design conventions, but they were generally good or at least bearable. Whatever good taste Microsoft had, it evaporated shortly after the release of Windows 7.

OS X is slowly backsliding, too. It's not as bad as showing literal advertisements in the OS, but they're also trying to unify their mobile and laptop/desktop experiences, and it results in a worse experience on my laptop.

I think I'm about two OSX upgrades away from switching to a *nix OS as my daily driver, though I don't know what I'll do for some niche software like Clip Studio Paint.

Re: The dark defaults of Microsoft Edge

#105

Post by philposting »

zvmaz wrote: post #69
sph wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is no reference to GNOME calculator in that page. Given the extraordinary claim, please link better proof. I cannot imagine GNOME calc phoning home, unless you crashes and you have manually enabled debugging telemetry post-installation.

> There is no reference to GNOME calculator in that page. It is at the bottom of the page I linked to, under "Application Firewall". There is even a screenshot.

It looks like it's getting currency exchange rates from the IMF, not phoning home.

Re: The dark defaults of Microsoft Edge

#106

Post by gregw2 »

pavel_lishin wrote: post #97
skrebbel wrote: post #3

I’m a longtime Windows fan, and initially I was quite enamored by Edge as well. Base UX is excellent, lots of settings and they’re easy to find. Vertical tab bar, profiles, and it all Just Works. I flat out love its “turn this website into a desktop app” feature. But by now they've shoved their core consumer products so chock full of crap that even I am starting to look for a way out. I got my son a new laptop recent…

> I don’t understand why MS doesn’t get some sort of internal revolt. From whom? They've got two customer bases: - corporate clients, who get this stuff removed, either as part of the purchase or by their various sysadmins who get paid to secure the purchased laptops - personal clients, who purchase desktops and laptops pre-loaded with Windows, and could no more opt out of using it than I could opt out of using elect…

re: "corporate clients, who get this stuff removed"...

I am currently at a Fortune 100 company and only wish my IT department would keep up with / disable all the ways automated MS(N) news feeds keep cropping up via Edge and Windows default behaviors, sometimes seemingly as part of automated updates.

Every time I think I have turned one off, there is yet another way Microsoft enables some kind of news feed in its system by default.

I have been through three rounds of exploring how to disable these sort of features in the last 6 months with windows 10+edge, and resent the time I have to spend trawling and searching how to turn each particular money grab off.

I really don't want the distraction at work, thank you!

P.S. Edge has been slightly more stable (and memory-efficient with many tabs?) under low-memory conditions than Chrome so I ended up starting to use it to avoid reboots at times. Wake up Google!

Re: The dark defaults of Microsoft Edge

#107

Post by rr808 »

flir wrote: post #64
mikub wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's just three clicks to disable widgets, "Right click taskbar, select taskbar settings, click on slider to turn widgets off".

Do you happen to know how to disable the page of clickbait I get every time I open a new tab in Edge? I tried setting my "Home" to Google, but that doesn't seem to do it.

Agree this is a bigger problem for me. Its usually temping clickbait and I end up clicking some of the links and getting distracted.

Re: The dark defaults of Microsoft Edge

#108

Post by alpaca128 »

favaq wrote: post #98
justinclift wrote: post #21

Did you know that out-of-the-box, Edge will transmit the content of your text boxes on web pages to the Microsoft Editor service for the purpose of grammatical suggestions? I have no idea how this concept got past legal but hey, it’s on by default now. Holy shit. :( At what point are some of the major government legal departments actually going to step up and sort this shit out? It is so , so, so, so, so far past ove…

It helps to read TOS/EULA/etc. If you agree to something then you shouldn't be complaining about it.

No. In many places getting consent by deceptive/malicious means is illegal, and EULAs cannot override laws. That's why Google's cookie popups now have a "reject all" button after a $170 million fine.

Re: The dark defaults of Microsoft Edge

#109

Post by shp0ngle »

I am using edge as I like the vertical tabs… the only browser that has this feature, kind of, is Safari; but safari extensions suck (if you tried to ever build one, you would understand why).

It’s otherwise very user hostile but just I love the vertical tabs so much

Re: The dark defaults of Microsoft Edge

#110

Post by nguyenkien »

flir wrote: post #64
mikub wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's just three clicks to disable widgets, "Right click taskbar, select taskbar settings, click on slider to turn widgets off".

Do you happen to know how to disable the page of clickbait I get every time I open a new tab in Edge? I tried setting my "Home" to Google, but that doesn't seem to do it.

Click gear icon at top right of new tab page.
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