I hate that Windows is like this
It would be better if people didn’t need to worry about switching.
I mean, if the alternative is vanilla Chrome, it hardly matters at this point. They’re both so loaded with tracking your computer will dent the floor, and they have basically the same capabilities.
Obviously FF is better, but what I’m saying is, statistically, for the vast majority, this is only pulling folks off of Chrome.
I mean it goes back and forth so much. I remember when Firefox was the king of browsers 15 years maybe 18 years ago. It then got so loaded with shit that Chrome was the only way to go for about 10 years or so now at this point I think it’s pretty much a wash between the two. If nothing else you can use a lighter browser. I personally prefer Chrome because then I can use it on my phone my tablet my computer and have access to all of my tabs as access to all of my searches everything between the three devices.
I remember my Firefox browser got hijacked so badly, that I had to never install it again on one of my computers, because it would pick up the extension I guess that was left behind in app data or something? Anyway, I was afraid to touch it, long after it was cleared.
because then I can use it on my phone my tablet my computer and have access to all of my tabs as access to all of my searches everything between the three devices.
You can do that with Firefox. If you use Android you can also run uBlock in the mobile version of Firefox, which is why I’ll never use Chrome again.
What I meant is there are tons of alternatives to Google-branded Chrome, that are basically Chrome underneath but at least stripped out. Including ones with browser sync across devices.
I am using DuckDuckGo for mobile/desktop sync at the moment. But mostly Cromite (or Firefox) on desktop, and only because Cromite sadly isnt available on iOS.
It’s not a wash anymore though, it’s not even close. Plain Chrome tracks you so much it definitely eats CPU doing so, no matter how many extensions you install.
I mean I’ve started utilizing duck duck go for most of my searches on my phone about five six months ago or so. But that has been limited in a number of things in a professional sense where I have had to switch over to Google to be able to actually find the correct answers that I need.
Their browser, I mean.
You can still use Google search in DDG browser. TBH I feel much safer with that than the other way around.
Microsoft Edge encountered an error: Microsoft Edge is not the default browser. We reset your default browser to Microsoft Edge to resolve the problem
Love seeing love for Linux, but my Macs have never once complained about me using Firefox. Safari is there if I want an objectively worse Internet that does a couple things Firefox does via paid extensions but are free in Firefox. But if I use Firefox, macOS does not care.
I think the lesson is, as long as you’re not choosing Windows, you are choosing well. If you have to use Windows at work, that’s fine. So do I. But you don’t have to use it at home too.
Apple users are already locked into the whole vertical stack. The friction in that ecosystem comes from trying to use other hardware. Every design choice in the ecosystem serves to keep users corralled. They aren’t installing apps from outside the app store because Apple ensured that the thought never occurs to them in the first place. The tech stack of an Apple user is a continuous, gapless monolith made of glass and brushed aluminum. Unblemished by third-party vendors, it keeps them safe, serves their every need, just works and has “designed by Apple in California” stamped on the bottom. The Apple devotees even think they’re unique and “creative”. They freely open up their wallets for that feeling. They would gleefully volunteer to get fucked sideways with a MacBook Air™️ – as long as it will be Apple doing the fucking.
Meanwhile, in Redmond, Microsoft roots around desperately in the same bag of dirty tricks they’ve been using for decades looking for something, anything, that will give them a fraction of that brand cohesion and devotion from users. They continue to not get it, it will continue to not solve their perpetual identity crisis, and half their user base will still not even know what their browser is called.
Apple stuff only works well with other Apple stuff
They are also very antirepair
What was the problem? It was set to not Microsoft Edge.
Windows: The top choice when you want someone else to control your computer.
I just love it when I click on a link in Teams and it opens in Edge
Translation.
We found a problem and its that you made the Wrong choice.
Set Microsoft edge to default browser
Install MSEdgeRedirect to solve this problem.
I also recommend O&O Shut Up 10 and StartAllBack to disable ads/AI/bloat and restore removed Start menu functionality (like vertical taskbars). Also, always build the ISO in Rufus so you have the option to disable the Microsoft account requirement.
Alternatively you could* switch to Linux.
Install MSEdgeRedirect to solve this problem.
I also recommend O&O Shut Up 10 and StartAllBack…
Me: Why go through all that trouble, just install Linux
Alternatively you would switch to Linux.
Welp
Damn it, could*
I just finished migrating our last windows holdout in my house. Honestly very painless and while everyone is different we haven’t had any regrets. Eol for Windows 10 was a fantastic bogeyman.
Finally managed to get my dad to switch his laptop
nice, my wife was super hesitant. I had to remind her she only uses libreoffice and firefox anyway hahaha
What distribution did you migrate to? (Not trying to start a fight, I’d just like to switch myself)
oh jeez lol I’ve never had a Linux fight. I picked kde neon because I love the ui and neon is bleeding edge for plasma updates. being based on Ubuntu which I was already familiar with sealed the deal. it’s very comfortable for Windows users out of the box,and can be customised further into a visual clone of Windows 10/11. I’ve had a great time gaming on it, very little set up for amd.
Thanks mate, I appreciate all the info
Glad I could help, if you’re looking to try it out and have a spare usb lying around you can try a live version. That loads the OS into ram and allows you to try out the os. most(maybe all) linux distros have one. Fair warning it will be noticeably faster than everything due to running off ram. if you like it enough you can install it alongside Windows, then if you’re completely sold you can use the live disk again to expand the Linux partition over Windows.
Here is the neon download page. It has instructions for making a live usb.
ps. i may have also undersold kde, they also have a whole suite of neat applications they’ve made for their os
To be fair
I didn’t notice that either
They say that Stockholm syndrome is fake because of bad data. Windows is the proof that it’s true.
There is a possible version of windows that is good and that people want. It’s a just a shame that Microsoft isn’t interested it making it.
As someone who grew up on windows, I’m willing to stay with it for as long as I can make it like that version. I don’t want Mac, and Linux doesn’t support enough (still, but maybe one day)
That app was your other browser. And the problem was that it made itself your default browser. But no worries. We fixed that right up for you.
“An app caused a problem”. Let me guess, that app was called “Edge”, and it was just pissed to be ignored.
The problem obviously being that it is not the browser they want you too use, so they create “a problem”.
They don’t even need to go that far. Windows has so many problems all the time, they just have to pick one and attribute this response to it.
Why stop at just one? Someday soon I’m sure they’ll gleefully tell you that Windows couldn’t format your USB thumb drive, so they reset your browser.
“Oops, couldn’t find that file! Better reset your browser. Actually I’ll just go ahead and turn Windows Recall back on, too. Better get your OneDrive trial started also, I know you wanted that…”
make sure to encrypt your drive so only we can spy on you, not scary people who steal your computer!
Switched to Ubuntu completely this year and I think it’s finally ready. There are still issues, there are always going to be issues, but at least I get to choose which apps I want to use.
Windows 11 is just objectively terrible. It’s Microsoft turning your power bill into their profit.
I love how in their minds this is going to be a win. Like there are going to be all these people out there who just quietly accept that they’ll use Microsoft Edge from now on, and also in addition not form any kind of revision to their brand impression of Microsoft going forward.
I am sure there are some people who just kind of don’t give a fuck about computers who that will be accurate for, but I feel like it’s a much smaller minority than Microsoft seems to think that it is.
I am sure there are some people who just kind of don’t give a fuck about computers who that will be accurate for, but I feel like it’s a much smaller minority than Microsoft seems to think that it is.
You’re definitely overestimating the size of your own bubble. The vast, vast, vast majority of people won’t even notice, forget caring or actually doing anything about it.
https://radar.cloudflare.com/reports/browser-market-share-2025-q1
Check “Market Share by OS” and switch it to Windows. Every one of those 67.359% of people who is using Chrome had it downloaded to their computer on purpose instead of just clicking “Internet” and getting Edge. Obviously they feel strongly enough to do that, so I don’t see how they would be amenable to losing all their bookmarks and settings and just going with Edge when one day their OS tries to trick them into it.
many of those chrome ‘users’ got there after clicking on one of google’s many somewhat misleading ‘advertisements’ or ‘notices’ or ‘warnings’
Citation: It is known
How many of them? How do you know?
“Many. It is known.”
I also like how you put “users” in quotes for some reason. Anyway, good talk.
To be fair, the claim that every single user deliberately installed chrome has the same citation lol
Maybe so. But Chrome got there some way, their computer didn’t come with it. 100% of the computers in that sample came with Edge configured as the browser and nothing else installed, and 81.95% of them are currently accessing the internet using something else. That to me indicates some kind of decisive action to use something else, on somebody’s part, and also that Microsoft’s years-long endeavor to correct the “problem” by just continuing to ask like a drunk man at the bar in the hopes that the answer will change is not a winner for most people who use computers at this point.
Probably it’s only as low as 81.95% because they do stuff like this. Obviously those people do still exist in a big contingent. My feeling is though that it’s no longer 1998 and there’s no longer this supermajority of AOL users out there who are confused by the very concept of a browser. Those people are in old folks’ homes now, their kids who grew up programming are the middle-aged people of today who aren’t hip to apps and TikTok, but they do understand about browsers. That’s just my feeling and a narrative I produced out of my ass, sure, but it does seem to match the data.
Sure, but I’d wager there’s a huge portion of chrome users who got there through the same tactic that Microsoft is deploying here - if you to go the world’s most popular search engine on a non-Chrome browser, it tells you that you should be running Chrome and provides a download link
Y’all have set up this false dichotomy in which you’ve ignored the real majority of chrome installs on windows: children, grandchildren, and neighbors who just want to move on with their life. So they install “the one that looks like a beach ball” and they install a bunch of risky extensions that’ll make reading and printing the internet easier.
Source: I used to work in computer repair and technology literacy. But, mostly my own ass.
Hey now, I wasn’t ignoring anyone. The truth is somewhere between “all installs were deliberate” and “most installs were accidental”
Several coworkers user Edge because the computer said to use Edge and a computer wouldn’t lie.
I can assure you that the vast majority of users in my footprint, about 600 of them, use Chrome because we set it as default. Many people have no idea the difference between Chrome and edge. I am currently sitting at a desk where the user has opened Chrome, but it is not default.
That’s why I used the specific phrasing “had it downloaded to their computer” instead of claiming that they were the ones to do it. You’ll notice that those users in your footprint also fall into a category of people which this won’t do a damn thing to influence.
Yes, they will.
Unless enterprise is part of the equation. All those people are simply stuck using whatever thier company uses. Which is usually Edge and Chrome. With no option to change.
I think you’re overestimating the degree to which the majority of users are willing to inconvenience themselves over a browser. If Microsoft announced tomorrow that Windows no longer supported any browser other than edge you wouldn’t see a mass migration to Linux. Instead you would see a healthy uptick in complaints about edge.
Maybe not mass migration, but that alone would probably add another percentage point or so to Linux’s market share, while others would just set about breaking the limitation/working around it within probably hours.
The people who wouldn’t notice wouldn’t have changed their browser.
You’re assuming they’re the ones who installed it in the first place.
Ding ding ding
I am willing to bet there will be A LOT of people. I am a very tech savvy person, and I use edge on my work computer for many things (single sign on). My default search engine changed to bing, and I ended up using bing by accident for a while. And then for a while longer cause I was too lazy to change the setting.
All of that but then also that they will buy out any competition so you can care and notice, but fuck you.
Stupid is as stupid does.
Most users I know can’t distinguish Edge from Chrome any longer. I have to ask them to look for the Copilot symbol to differentiate the two.
Something I’ve noticed, and it’s consistent enough that I suspect that microsoft does it on purpose, there’s a 50/50 chance that your windows instal will either be fine forever without problems, or plagued with constant issues that get worse with every update. 2 identical machines with the same install media can produce very different experiences.
I use linux now, and I no longer do tech support, so I’m glad I don’t have to deal with that shit anymore.
You’re absolutely right, but there’s a bit more to it than that.
As someone who deployed Windows professionally for years and was a power user at home, let me supply some additional details,
Windows has become business software through and through. It can run fine enough if you go with a basic install and minimal tweaks through only the standard channels (like Group Policy) and this is probably what those people always loudly claiming “well I never have an issue!” are doing and then they’ll accuse you for bringing it on yourself from deviating from this.
But what everyone should understand, especially them, is that this is not how normal people use their computers and it’s utter bullshit that Microsoft continues to restrict people into this box. Most businesses don’t need hardly anything aside from Office and perhaps one or two industry specific applications, an overwhelming number of these being SaaS these days anyways. Normal people on the other hand use a wide variety of software for their businesses and hobbies in a wide array of configurations and what’s more, we enjoy personalizing our experiences on top of it, as we should! This unsurprisingly leads to more instability that Microsoft simply doesn’t want to take responsibility for.
People still complain about not being able to move the taskbar from the bottom of the screen and Microsoft apologists will say, “but it’s such a small thing!” And well, it is and that’s kind of my point; it’s a bellweather. I bet it’s a simple fix, they could do it, they could please people and provide further usability but they just don’t have to. How long has it gone unaddressed now? You want to play Call of Duty, you cretin? Lick our boots! And don’t even get me started on the whole SecureBoot/TPM 2.0 DRM lockdown issue.
I use Arch BTW and here’s my quick pitch for that. It really is a good distro for people of moderate or above skill level. I slowly built it out over time, bolted on each carefully selected piece of software from the repository, reading the wiki and making configurations as I went. In doing so, I gained a better understanding of Linux in general and my system in specific so on the rare occasions something does break, I don’t feel as clueless addressing it. The reason we all start to sound like cult-like zealots after awhile is because we’ve established a personal relationship with our computers; it is my friend again. It’s hard to understate the actual palpable relief that comes from cutting out a bloated, malicious corporation from that chain of trust with a machine we use in our daily lives.
It’s time to end Microsoft. Reach out, be helpful and welcoming in the Linux community. They’re losing balance, they’ve overplayed their hand on 11 and over-invested in AI and while I doubt we’d be lucky enough to be truly rid of them, we can see them suffer some real damage.
A post about Windows being shit? On Lemmy? I wonder what the comments are going to be about. Maybe someone will have found an alternative system to use.
Have you tried TempleOS by chance?
Or PonyOS
ReactOS /s
Seriously, you know the answer.
Have you tried the new update? It actually isn’t all that bad. It is terrible from a security perspective but if you just want to play some Win XP games it works fine offline.
I think reactOS is perfect for old terminals that use windows XP. Like PoS and other.
I mean using XP is already terrible for security and many government pay Microsoft for support to continue using them on dumb terminals. I don’t even know if they are sending security updates anymore.
But, If they can setup ReactOS to run those apps (after testing they’re fully compatible). Air gap them from the internet, they could be an alternative path forward for a lot of old hardware. At least reactOS will get updates, unlike Windows XP.
