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Microsoft has not stopped forcing Edge on Windows 11 users

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Re: Microsoft has not stopped forcing Edge on Windows 11 users

#221

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honest question, why not just Debian and use a derivative instead? I took a 20 year sabbatical on Linux in the home. But with windows 11, I decided to go back. Stopped on debian, and chose Debian when I came back. I am super impressed with how it has matured and it seems to be built in a way that really does a fair job on looking out for you as a user, and as an administrator.

The main problem with Debian is outdated software. For servers the fixed release cycle is great, everything is properly tested and it should be rock solid without really needing to touch it. But for a regular desktop/workstation system I want more frequent software updates even if it comes at the cost of a little stability. (Of course there's Debian unstable, but I'd rather go with a distro where the rolling release…

Well there are backports for some packages that require updates due to API changes etc.

Re: Microsoft has not stopped forcing Edge on Windows 11 users

#222

Glad to see someone else chasing this down, and not surprised this is still not yet reproducible. Paul Thurrott and I were also scratching our heads with this one on August 25. After failing to reproduce the behavior, he wrote up our collective experience [1] the next day. We chalked it up to yet another Windows Insider screw up, marked it as an unsolved case, and moved on. I certainly hope the change eventually make…

I remember when we first found out that IE could be "uninstalled" from Windows 7 (it was a checkbox in an early build's programs list that let you have it removed, basically). Interesting seeing the about-face over a decade later. --- for those not aware, Rafael's almost a two decade long authority on the topic of smashing Windows internals to bits to see how it all works.

I remember when we first found out that IE could be uninstalled from Windows 98 and thus what eventually lead the EU to mandate Microsoft give Windows users a choice of 3rd party browsers.

Back then businesses were a lot more scared of the repercussions of anti-competitive behaviour than they are now.

Re: Microsoft has not stopped forcing Edge on Windows 11 users

#223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I bought my pre-teen a prebuilt pc for gaming recently. Figured windows 11 would be easier due to compatibility with games and it being pre installed. After screwing with it for several hours to remove as much crap as possible, What I found was that every time it restarted there was a new prompt to reenable something, surreptitiously start using a ms service, etc. I gave up and installed Ubuntu. Not every game works…

I would love to see my kids using KDE on some flavor of Linux, but the two biggest games they play have issues. Roblox and Fortnite.

Its such a shame, because from what I can tell, the only reason Roblox doesn't work is because they do some very goofy stuff to launch the game

Re: Microsoft has not stopped forcing Edge on Windows 11 users

#224

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except edge then opens and presents you with some message about setting it to the default browser (which a lot of people will just click ok to make it go away)

That an internal OS system (help) opens in the OS browser I'm willing to accept. That every browser says "please please make us the default browser" is annoying but hardly unique for Edge. This is just the combination of the two. I don't think enough people use Win+Type+Enter queries, nor F1 help in Windows to make the discussion very interesting compared to the really interesting ones like which browsers will open a…

Edge is the only browser that periodically captures you in a full screen multiple pages nag screen when it's not default. It's also the only browser able to set itself as default without further interaction.

It's not behaving the same as any other browser.

Re: Microsoft has not stopped forcing Edge on Windows 11 users

#225
post #218
post #37

I don't care for edge for the most part, but there is actually one integration with edge that I have come to like. When I click on an email link inside outlook, edge opens the link, and also displays a sidebar which displays the email. Super handy IMO. Somehow we need to find a balance that allows vendors to tightly integrate their apps but prevent abusing this. MS is everyone's favorite whipping boy, but I fear what…

> Apple seems to be the only sensible alternative. My Arch box has never once tried to display an ad to me, or coerce me to use any particular piece of software for that matter.

I have to +1 very loudly for Arch. It has an absolute dream of a documentation. Any configuration or cache paths are default, the distro doesnt try to fuck with it like Ubuntu and others do - you do `man mytool` or look at the official docs for that tool, and if that says the config is at /etc/monkey/mytool.conf, it is.

The package manager works well.

The installer is very solid by now.

It comes with absolutely nothing preinstalled, perfect for techie people.

Re: Microsoft has not stopped forcing Edge on Windows 11 users

#226
On my work computer there is Windows 11, and what we build can only be built on windows.

So naturally, I just accept almost all defaults. If you just go along with their (sometimes mindbendingly horrible) choices, you get to actually get work done.

Of course it's a wonderful moment to boot up my machine at home, which has ArchLinux on it, with KDE and all the things I chose because I like them, and I'm at least 2x more productive. Reading code is much easier without distractions, with the right font, with the right colorscheme that I'm used to. Writing code is much easier when the IDE doesn't hijack Tab to insert AI autosuggestions (which as I said, I leave on, because I dont want to fight MS as its a waste of time). I can use bash without 194728 incantations of setting up path variables and installing all the tools I want.

Yeah this is a rant, but man, Windows does a lot of work to force its defaults on you, and man, theyre horrible.

Re: Microsoft has not stopped forcing Edge on Windows 11 users

#227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Linux required almost-daily googling and opening up a terminal to fix or change something. I usually try to avoid discussions of the OS, since it's such a terribly boring topic. However, this is quite an extraordinary claim that is made without any details. Perhaps you could elaborate. As someone that has used various Linux distros for nearly twenty years, I don't think I could construct a scenario in which someone…

I think when you are such a proficient user of some technology you don't even realize how many mistakes you can make along the way. And some small annoyance that you don't even notice might be a burden and a day-long struggle for someone less experienced. As an example of such a behavior on Windows. My customers (too often) complain that my console-based program suddenly stopped and they tried everything and can't ma…

GP said 15 years though, not exactly someone less experienced.

Re: Microsoft has not stopped forcing Edge on Windows 11 users

#228
I share all criticism on the subject but I must admit there is a killer feature that alone converted me to use Edge on MacOS - native vertical tab bar with tab grouping. It worked much better for me than all Chrome and Firefox extensions I tried before.

I know Brave implemented it recently too so Edge is not the only player in town now, but it was the first! Hopefully the rest of browsers will follow the trend.

Re: Microsoft has not stopped forcing Edge on Windows 11 users

#229
post #228

I share all criticism on the subject but I must admit there is a killer feature that alone converted me to use Edge on MacOS - native vertical tab bar with tab grouping. It worked much better for me than all Chrome and Firefox extensions I tried before. I know Brave implemented it recently too so Edge is not the only player in town now, but it was the first! Hopefully the rest of browsers will follow the trend.

Have you tried Vivaldi's vertical tabs? They seem quite powerful and I like the implementation more than Edge's.
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