Thousands of Windows users have complained to Microsoft over ‘annoying’ popups urging them to stop using Google Chrome.
Switching to the default Windows browser, Microsoft Edge, has been advertised by the tech giant as a way to “save time and money.”
Some of the notifications go so far as to say: “That browser is from the year 2008! Do you have any idea what’s new? Microsoft Edge is a browser developed by Microsoft.”
And also, it is even going so far as to add popups every time Chrome users open Google’s software, urging them to download their browser. Microsoft Edge is said to operate “on the same technology” as Chrome but “with Microsoft’s additional trust.”
Although Edge is based on a modified version of Google Chrome’s infrastructure known as Chromium, Chrome is much more popular, accounting for about 68 percent of the worldwide Internet browser market.
Windows users rushed to Twitter to express their displeasure with Microsoft’s “aggressive” approach.
“They don’t have to be so pushy with Edge. It’s a decent browser these days. However, this will simply drive people away. I was under the assumption that Microsoft’s aggressive product marketing days were over. Not, “Neville Lahiru, a tech writer, agreed.
Others defended Microsoft, noting that Google and other IT giants are just as demanding.
“I mean… Google also prompts you to download Chrome when you access Google on Edge, so you can’t just blame Microsoft here,” one Twitter user remarked.
It has been contacted for a response.
Customers were previously compelled to use the company’s browser, which resulted in legal action.
Microsoft lost a case against the US government in 2001, in which the government accused the tech giant of establishing a “monopoly” on the computer industry.
The company reportedly made it impossible for users to remove Internet Explorer, which preceded Microsoft Edge.
From that moment on, the IT giant was obligated to provide a variety of rivals’ browsers to new Windows customers.
