Microsoft is no stranger to pissing people off, particularly when it comes to Windows 10. There have been endless cries about forced updates, complaints about ads, moaning about privacy, and now the CEO of Vivaldi has lashed out at the company for its anti-competitive practices with Microsoft Edge.
Jon von Tetzchner says that Microsoft has forgotten about the "actual real-life people that use technology in their daily lives." He takes particular umbrage at Windows 10's continued insistence of resetting the default browser to Edge.
Indicating that his patience has now run out, von Tetzchner points to a 72-year-old friend who was confused by the change and unable to reverse things. He says that Microsoft is failing to respect the decisions made by users, and this is something that needs to stop.
Every time Windows 10 upgrades, it changes the default browser to Edge. Same thing tends to happen when a new browser is installed -- for some reason, it leads to restoring Edge as the default option. Not the new browser, and not even the browser that was there as a default one previously.[...]
As someone involved in the development of software, von Tetzchner is acutely aware of the desire to increase user numbers. But this is not an excuse for foisting unwanted software onto people:
Our goal as technology companies should be to provide great software to our users. At the same time, we should accept that some users prefer software created by other companies. It is our responsibility to be fair to the users, and this is what should drive the technology industry forward. Stripping users of their ability to choose or forcefully limiting their options stalls progress. Focusing on building great products is what should drive us to excel.
[...]Where has the user's absolute prerogative to make a choice gone?
The problem is that Microsoft know that they can't complete on the merits. They know that what they're pushing is shite that consumers wouldn't adopt voluntarily, given a choice, which is why they're abusing the access that they have as gatekeepers of the OS itself in as may egregious ways as they can think of. DJT's DoJ probably won't do anything, either, unlike last time, given how many corporate CEOs he's nominated to head basically every department of his administration. Consumers' rights seem to be the furthest thing from the new U.S. Administrations' collective minds.It is time to do the right thing. Stop stealing the default browser, accept user choice and compete on the merits.
Von Tetzchner is absolutely right about this, though. Microsoft's anti-competitive and anti-consumer bullshit is completely off the chain. Their behaviour is the opposite of market forces in action; it is, instead, the worst sort of monopolism. It really does need to stop... but it won't. Not unless and until Microsoft is forced to stop, which doesn't look like it's going to happen anytime soon.