Microsoft pushes users to the Edge in Outlook, Teams

Microsoft plans to make web links in the Outlook for Windows app and Teams open by default in its Edge browser, regardless of the default browser chosen in Windows Settings. In accordance with Redmond's declaration in March that customers should "be able to control their default applications such as their default browser …

[Anonymous Coward]

Outlook is already a pain in the nuts on Android since when you open a document it appears with an undismissable "open office" button hovering over it. Just p*ss off. I am not installing or using your unnecessary bloatware on my phone.

[MyffyW]

Yeah - tried my hand at coming up with a pithy response but "just p*ss off, Microsoft" works for me

[sarusa]

Well, it's approriate

Outlook and Teams are both the shittiest products in their class, so this just rubs the fecal matter in your face more. It's very on brand for Microsoft.

[Hubert Cumberdale]

Re: Well, it's approriate

Top tip – Edge can't run at all if you do this:

c:

cd "%PROGRAMFILES(X86)%\Microsoft\Edge\Application\9*\Installer"

setup --uninstall --force-uninstall --verbose-logging --system-level

(You might need to change that 9* to an 8* – haven't quite worked that out yet.)

Seems to be working long term for me now.

[mmonroe]

Re: Well, it's approriate

Hubert's solution might be the right way. I booted my PC using a Linux USB stick and completely removed the C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft directory. To stop it coming back, you could just delete what is in the directory and set the Unix perms to 000. Windows honours them.

[Jellied Eel]

Re: Well, it's approriate

Cheers for that.

Along the same lines, anyone know a handy list of other cruft that can be removed? I'm getting a lil fed up of having to go find the package remover to unistall all the Xbox carp every time Windows updates. Would be nice to have a simple script/batch job I could just run to get rid of all the garbage MS seems to think I need loaded into memory all the time.

[Anonymous Coward]

PowerShell can handle crap while LGPOs handle settings

Get-AppxPackage lets you list all the modern crap, you can pipe the results into a Remove-AppxPackage commandlet to remove them. Likewise for provisioned packages. Search ‘GitHub Gist Windows Junk’ in your favourite non-Bing search engine for some example scripts. If you use Task Scheduler to run your automation on every boot and every X hours, it should keep everything consistently crap free.

For everything else: gpedit.msc is your friend!

[David 132]

Re: PowerShell can handle crap while LGPOs handle settings

> For everything else: gpedit.msc is your friend!

And for those poor souls stuck on Home editions, with no access to GPedit.msc, there is the Group Policy search site, which gives you the Registry equivalents for just about every policy:

https://gpsearch.azurewebsites.net/#

[X5-332960073452]

Re: Well, it's approriate

In an Admin PowerShell instance,

Get-ProvisionedAppxPackage -Online | Where-Object { $_.PackageName -match "xbox" } | ForEach-Object { Remove-ProvisionedAppxPackage -Online -AllUsers -PackageName $_.PackageName }

Then change xbox to phone, removes all xbox carp and the dreaded Phone Link

[Mayday]

Chrome

You said you wanted to use Chrome? Oh, I thought you meant our Chromium-based product.

[MacroRodent]

Re: Chrome

Edge actually isn't too bad as a browser - currently. Give it a monopoly position for a few years, and it will become as degraded as IE...

[Fred Daggy]

Re: Chrome

It will only become degraded once management feel that it has served it's purpose. And the money dries up. Money which drives development. (Even if the development is MS own customisations).

At this time, Google have a vested interest in Chromium as it drives their Chrome and revenue (eg, Selling you). But for MS, it's not their reason to exist. MS reason to exist is to sell software subscriptions. Selling you is just icing on the cake.

[MacroRodent]

Re: Chrome

> And the money dries up. Money which drives development.

Money does not have to dry up before it stagnates. The problem with a product that has a monopoly or near-monopoly status is the vendor does not have to invest in development beyond the bare minimum. Customers use it anyway, for lack of choice. It is also likely MS will find ways to tie Edge to its other products in a way that makes switching to the competition harder, just like they did with IE.

[Dave K]

Re: Chrome

It could be the greatest browser the world has ever seen, however after spending years of having Microsoft trying to ram it down my throat at every possible opportunity, I refuse to use it on principle.

It's a bit like dealing with an overly-pushy salesman. He may be selling a great product at a fantastic price, but if he's excessively and aggressively pushing the product on you come-what-may, you simply walk away...

[Severus]

Re: Chrome

I quite agree. Good products sell themselves by reputation, if the salesman is pushy and aggressive he's generally pushing a sub standard product at an inflated price.

[ITMA]

Re: Chrome

Here here!

[Smartypantz]

Re: Chrome

And, the fact that they just gave up half-ways to creating their own browser, folded and started modding chrome into "new edge" says a lot about how serious they are about creating quality software!

[Franco]

Re: Chrome

For the moment, until Google and MS fall out over the direction Chromium takes or something like that.

I'm forced to use Edge at work at the moment, and most Enterprises force one or the other or give the choice, sadly unless Firefox gets the same level of integration with Group Policy it won't get any Enterprise traction

[v13]

Re: Chrome

The only reason Edge doesn't fully s*ck is that it's new and Microsoft didn't have enough time yet to make it s*ck. Give them time and it'll be what you'd expect from the people that brought you Internet Explorer. At least this time they don't control the rendering engine.

[gedw99]

It’s just a webview . Everyone does it ..

How they manage to bypass default browser is pretty easy too . Scan for what’s they and call direct .

MS do like to play dirty though when they can .

[Snake]

Re: webview

Exactly. MS has done a crap job of describing it, only managing to raise everyone's FUD. It's an in-app server-client webview, and they can't do that seamlessly with other browsers as smoothly as they can with Edge. Note the description: if you choose to select your own browser your email will still open *in a separate application*.

Google does webview in Android as part of the system.

[airbrush]

It's how they turn you into the product..

Try and use a browser other than Chrome and edge on your phone that have a business model of tracking your every move and it is much harder, some things like authentication for your company portal only work with chrome. On the desktop some office links already won't open in Firefox although not common enough to deter. Needs more regulation.

[Charlie Clark]

Re: It's how they turn you into the product..

Firefox works fine for me on my phone.

[airbrush]

Re: It's how they turn you into the product..

Yeah I prefer it but every time I authenticate using ms company portal thing it needs Chrome to import the certificate etc, wouldn't mind if it was monthly

[localzuk]

Eu investigation in 3...2...1...

So, MS haven't learned from their previous errors regarding abusing their market power?

Seems like we'll see another complaint in the EU soon and another investigation then.

[Swedish Chef]

Re: Eu investigation in 3...2...1...

Oh, I think they've learned. They've learned that inbetween two anti-trust injunctions, they can pretty much do whatever they want.

The investigation won't help much if it only concludes once the damage has been done. MS will pay a fine that's well worth it to them and change absolutely nothing.

Unless the fines start being so eye-wateringly steep that a conviction will have the shareholders howling and demanding the entire board's heads on spikes, nothing much will change.

[Fred Flintstone]

Re: Eu investigation in 3...2...1...

"Unless the fines start being so eye-wateringly steep that a conviction will have the shareholders howling and demanding the entire board's heads on spikes, nothing much will change."

That is about the best summary yet of the last couple of decades of Microsoft's behaviour.

Yes, I said decades.

[Fred Flintstone]

Re: Eu investigation in 3...2...1...

This recent El Reg article (which, I may add, is IMHO particularly well written) expresses exactly my thoughts.

[ecofeco]

Re: Eu investigation in 3...2...1...

No hyperbole detected.

Decades, indeed.

[Swedish Chef]

"The new Outlook behavior is being deployed slowly so the company can gather feedback."

...and then ignore that feedback as they always do.

Because I'm pretty confident I can predict what that feedback will look like...

[monty75]

Re: "The new Outlook behavior is being deployed slowly so the company can gather feedback."

“The frog is being heated slowly so we can gather feedback”

[thondwe]

Poor messaging

Seems poor messaging (sorry!) again. Suspect behind the scenes this is related to using Outlook + Teams + Edge as a fence around corporate data protection policies etc.

Imagine they could be doing something similar to enable more limited functions in MS 365 Home/Family - e.g. at present my screen time "reports" for the kids just complain they are using Chrome - since they've been indoctrinated by their schools (and me I guess, at least until Edge became Chrome based) to use "Google" (as they call Chrome!)

Paul

[GruntyMcPugh]

Re: Poor messaging

I've noticed URLs sent to me in Teams now get the message 'Verifying link' when opening in Edge so I guess this integration is perhaps for security, but MS could do a better job of selling it if so,

[Charlie Clark]

Re: Poor messaging

Teams and data protection in a single sentence. Teams is leaky as hell. You have to hope it's only phoning back to Microsoft. There are many environments when Teams (and it's evil stepfather, Sharepoint) are antithetical to any data protection policy.

[Evil Scot]

All this BS is pushing me to use Safari as my default browser.

It is my "gosh darn" PC.

Stop installing unwanted crap on it.

[Mike_R]

A solution

For enterprise users:

Tough

For Home/Individual user:

See icon

[Captain Scarlet]

Probably time to have another look at Opera

I'm a current Edge user (due to laziness and not liking anything else when Presto Opera was replaced), however the continual "we think your start page needs this bloated new stories and search bar", hey look at the AI button you can't remove, hey I'll add a sidebar for no reason is grinding my gears and I'm very likely now to move away from Edge

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Probably time to have another look at Opera

I'm afraid the fat lady sang for Opera a long time ago, it's no longer the browser you once thought it was.

Or perhaps you mis-spelled Firefox. Or Vivaldi (yet another Chromium clone), if you really must?

[Ken Hagan]

Re: Probably time to have another look at Opera

I think the OP is aware of that, hence the reference to "Presto Opera".

[Captain Scarlet]

Re: Probably time to have another look at Opera

Tell web designers to make compatible code and maybe Firefox will be an option for more users. To many websites fail to render correctly or functionality simply doesn't work on Firefox

Personally I have Firefox on every machine I use, if something doesn't work on Edge I will automatically try via Firefox (For me Firefox used to run slower than Chrome, but last few years it has reversed).

Forgot about Vivaldi, so I should check that as well (Doubt it will come near to being as Presto version of Opera for customising still).

[myhandler]

Re: Probably time to have another look at Opera

Opera's ok but it's not great. What do you not like about Firefox?

[Captain Scarlet]

Re: Probably time to have another look at Opera

More web designers not testing in anything other than Google Chrome, leading to websites not loading correctly.

[PeterM42]

Microsoft used to do things people liked......

......but not anymore.

[Anonymous Coward]

@PeterM42 - Re: Microsoft used to do things people liked......

When was that ? I've been using MS products since MS-DOS v3 and I can't remember them listening to their customer.

[Charlie Clark]

Re: @PeterM42 - Microsoft used to do things people liked......

I really liked MS Word 2.0, especially the learn program that it came with. Someone had put a lot of thought and work into that. But, from the way nearly everyone used it, it's clear that they never put any thought into what they were doing or bothered to try the learn program. The successor, Word 6, was the first down that slippery slope of "No, Dave, I can't allow you to do that…".

[Anonymous Coward]

Marketing Fuckheads

... again.

[Kev99]

Firefox used to be a really good browser. Too many links I try to use won't open now because of "privacy settings" which when changed, allow the world + dog to track you. Edge is just IE in new clothes. Opera mostly works but it can be a pain to figure out its UI. Chrome is a front end to google's track and sell policies. I haven't figured out what Samsung's telephone browser is, but it's also a pain.

[Mike 137]

"to make web links in the Outlook for Windows app and Teams open by default in its Edge browser"

Considering the proliferation of nasties like ransomware that arrive that way, should we be clicking on links in emails at all?

[jollyboyspecial]

Outlook is Outlook. And my chosen browser is my chosen browser.

Opening web links from outlook in a different browser (ie Edge) is not going to help me "stay focussed" it's going to irritate the hell out of me.

I suspect that Microsoft are working on the assumption that as soon as end users see Edge they'll never want to leave. But that's not going to work. Everybody is used to whatever browser they use and anything else is irritating when you first use it simply because it's different. Sure we're not in the days of IE6 anymore, no browser is a complete turd. But forcing a browser on you isn't going to change your opinion it's just going to make you swear.

However I don't think anybody will successfully be able to prevent microsoft from doing this just so long as Apple remain able to force everybody to use their browser (yes I know you think you're using Firefox, but you're not you're just using a firefox shell wrapped around Apple's chosen browser). If anybody tries to claim MS are being anticompetitive they will point out that they still give you a choice (if only the first time) but it's still more choice than Apple give their users.

It's about time that MS, Apple and Google were forced to stop this shit and give consumers a real choice.

[navarac]

Pissed

Just pissed off with Microsoft's shenanigans. Obviously they just know they are losing the battle if they don't do this crap.

[Richard 31]

Are they trying to force people into alternative OSes? It's the only outcome from this underhanded bullshit.

When will MS figure out that they lost the browser war with IE6. Embrace Extend Extinguish may have killed Netscape and won the battle. But they have lost this war.

[Mostly Irrelevant]

Here's an open source project that redirects msedge links:

https://github.com/rcmaehl/MSEdgeRedirect

I am not affiliated in any way.

[Severus]

Oh dear, MS seem to have forgotten that IT professionals (and amateurs for that matter) deeply resent being told what to do and how to do it. Guided, advised, suggested? all fine, but TOLD? Oh dear me no, that will elicit the in-built "I'll find a way to do the opposite, I'll avoid your products like the plague, and a hex on your house" response.