Ο Microsoft Edge wants to become one of the most popular web browsers that people use every day, especially on Windows 11. In 2022, it overtook Safari to be the second most popular browser but has since fallen to third place.
It's powered by Chromium, the same engine that Chrome uses, and it's constantly adding new features, most recently bingchat.
But although the capabilities of the browser are increasing almost every day, it seems that Microsoft is trying too hard with Edge. The company has become very aggressive with their browser and it is very disturbing to see this behavior again and again. Microsoft really wants you to try the browser no matter what, so it's putting it in tons of areas of Windows 11.
The first area is Windows 11's widgets feature. They give you a quick look at the things you care about most, like the weather in your area.
But there is a problem. Whenever you click on a widget, it will force you to open it in Microsoft Edge.
Even if you've already changed your default browser to something else, Microsoft will force you to see this widget's information in Edge. You should use some third-party app just to redirect the clicks to Chrome or another browser.
How about the new Windows feature? Although the Windows Copilot appears to be separate from Edge, in fact it's just another browser extension (currently available to Windows Insiders). As with widgets, Microsoft will make you use Edge.
Copilot was built on top of Edge, which allows it to use plugins like Chat GPT. Then you can use Bing Chat…. However, it's always alarming to see so many features bundled into one browser.
We've talked about Edge in Widgets and Copilot, but there are plenty of other places where Microsoft is pushing Edge. If you have Search highlights enabled, you will be forced to use Edge if you accidentally click on icons in the search box that change every day.
Well, Microsoft is showing him Edge even when trying to download Chrome. Open Edge and try to download Chrome after a clean install of Windows.
Is Microsoft trying to make Windows 11 EdgeOS (from ChromeOS)? On the best Chromebooks, Google limits you to only running the Chrome browser, except and whether you have enabled Linux applications.
We know the vision of the company to brings Windows to the Cloud and maybe the moves we've been seeing since Chromium Edge was released are related to that.
Microsoft should stop bundling Windows features into Edge, forcing users to use it, and focus on making Edge a better browser. After all, every inch of Edge today promotes something from Microsoft. The sidebar? Connects with Microsoft products such as Office. The browser? Promotes Microsoft Rewards and more.
The company should clarify its priorities and fix the problems that really concern the average user. Like the ongoing Windows Update issues.
And don't forget, Microsoft isn't just about Windows or Edge. Microsoft excels in the cloud with many different subscription services.
