I am starting to think the monopolistic behavior like this should get rewarded with jail time for all involved. Perhaps that would change their thinking.
MSFT is forcing Outlook and Teams to open links in Edge and IT admins are angry
371–380 of 753 posts
Re: MSFT is forcing Outlook and Teams to open links in Edge and IT admins are angry
#372I have no skin in the game, but even I am starting to think the obvious thing here: Apple and Google own the entire mobile OS market. They could literally destroy Microsoft if they started to hugely degrade the experience of Microsoft products on iOS and Android with dark patterns a la Microsoft. But they don't. So far they were competing by making their own products better. Microsoft needs to think hard how hostile…
>They could literally destroy Microsoft if they started to hugely degrade the experience of Microsoft products on iOS and Android with dark patterns a la Microsoft. Sorry, but Google really isn't a saint regarding degraded experience. The shenanigans around UX for example using Google services in Firefox have a long, well documented tradition. They just aren't as overt and clumsy with it as MS.
For a while downloading a lot of freeware would result in installing Chrome and setting it up as the default browser on Windows.
Visiting any Google property would result in nagging to download chrome. Firefox and (classic) Edge would just break for no reasons on Google pages (changing the user-agent fixed the issue).
Re: MSFT is forcing Outlook and Teams to open links in Edge and IT admins are angry
#373Apparently everyone forgot about the Internet Explorer vs Netscape debacle, they're essentially doing the same thing again, trying to claw back their relevance in the browser world. This sort of behavior is exactly what Sony should present to the EU how Microsoft handles anti-competetive behavior.
Re: MSFT is forcing Outlook and Teams to open links in Edge and IT admins are angry
#374Interesting timing. 2 days ago a place I'm at switched us from Google mail + calendar + meet to Microsoft outlook + calendar + teams. I almost can't believe at how good Google's suite of tools are compared to Microsoft. I never used any of MS' office tools until a few days ago. Outlook's web app doesn't even let you click into an email to mark it as read. You have to explicitly click the mark as read button. It also…
IMO outlook calendar has the fundamental design flaw that it uses email to share (at least some) state, rather than entries in a central server. Things like inviting someone to a meeting I rejected are super hard to impossible. Group meetings while the host is out are a disaster.
Re: MSFT is forcing Outlook and Teams to open links in Edge and IT admins are angry
#375I am thankful that I don't use Windows at home anymore. While I use Fedora, I believe most frustrated people will look to Apple ecosystem.
I permanently switched to Linux because Windows was acting as the owner of my computer. The change took some work, but it was well worth it. Now I'm using Mint with KDE. My regret is not having done this sooner. I'm satisfied.
Linux mint with KDE? Kinteresting.But you may get some compatibily issue.
I suggest using their default DE, it will give you more streamlined experience.
Re: MSFT is forcing Outlook and Teams to open links in Edge and IT admins are angry
#376Microsoft is shoving their software down people's throats with impunity. Just yesterday I had to install VS Code for a Homebridge integration, and out of nowhere they slapped a Bing search bar bang in the middle of the desktop.
I hate Microsoft though I highly doubt that the Bing search bar came from a Vscode installation. Are you sure it is the case?
"bar" is an overstatement if you like me were reading that as one of those early 2000s era browser toolbars. A recent Edge update added a fairly large and persistent Bing icon to the right end of the browser's menu bar. It uses a speech bubble design and is likely part of the push for AI chat powered Bing search. It's obnoxious that you can't hide it but it's more of an eyesore than an actual problem.
Re: MSFT is forcing Outlook and Teams to open links in Edge and IT admins are angry
#377Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you don't use Apple Music at all, you can uninstall it from your phone and it will stop being the default choice. I do this on my phone without any problems.
Music settings like the Equaliser actually only apply to Apple Music. You can uninstall it but there is no systemwide equaliser, because why would you need one when you can use Apple Music?
Same with MacOs and using it with a studio display makes the bass ridiculously loud.
Re: MSFT is forcing Outlook and Teams to open links in Edge and IT admins are angry
#378I have no skin in the game, but even I am starting to think the obvious thing here: Apple and Google own the entire mobile OS market. They could literally destroy Microsoft if they started to hugely degrade the experience of Microsoft products on iOS and Android with dark patterns a la Microsoft. But they don't. So far they were competing by making their own products better. Microsoft needs to think hard how hostile…
> Microsoft needs to think hard how hostile they want to be to its competitors and users, because two people can play this game.
I think this is already happening. Google pushes non-stop for you to use the Gmail app, then once you do all the links prompt you to open Google Maps, and all the rest. It's annoying and there's no way to change it.
I think Microsoft is just taking a step out of Google's playbook here. Doing exactly what Google does on mobile, but doing that same shitty behavior on desktops. "If you made the choice to use a Microsoft app, you're making the choice to be in the Microsoft ecosystem."
I hate it, it's trash, all the rest... but it feels like -- shocking -- Microsoft is just copying something they saw someone else doing.
Re: MSFT is forcing Outlook and Teams to open links in Edge and IT admins are angry
#379The problem Microsoft is creating for itself is that with these kind of antics, they will _never_ land any developers using their browser. That's hundreds of millions of users they're spitting in the face directly. Second, them constantly being in the news about peddling the Bing search engine also doesn't help. Most people like and prefer Google (and when I say most, I mean the 95% percentile), so if they read news…
Apparently I'm not a developer as I've been using the new Edge ever since moving to Windows a few years ago when WSL came around. It's actually a remarkably good browser and at this point I prefer it over Chrome (in part because I'm already using Windows so Microsoft telemetry is a given and Google's is extra).
It is however a shame that Microsoft keeps insisting to shoot itself in the foot. There's a very developer-friendly and professional and sleek side of Microsoft that is constantly sabotaged by the "used car salesman" side of the company that insists on adding noise like Microsoft Rewards to Edge or Candy Crush to Start.
Re: MSFT is forcing Outlook and Teams to open links in Edge and IT admins are angry
#380Earlier quoted context omitted.
Simply put, people don't love Edge as much as they love Chrome. The browser bundled with Windows 11 is naturally Edge, but users who use Chrome install Chrome of their own volition, so forcing them to open links in Edge is extremely annoying.
People seem to have forgotten how Chrome captured the desktop market to begin with. For many many years it was effectively almost impossible to download freeware without accidentally installing Chrome. Sites like download.com and even sourceforge wrapped everything in custom installers that would automatically include free trial of an antivirus, maybe some adware, and Google Chrome, unless you were aware and clicked…
Every site doing chrome downloads without a clear opt out (or opt in, I don't remember) was demonetized, IIRC.