The old joke is that Microsoft Edge, like Internet Explorer before it, is only used once by most users, to download Google Chrome. But it’s no joke. And now Edge is trying to convince users not to even download Chrome in the first place.
To see the prompts, open Microsoft Edge and browse to google.com/chrome. I’ve seen two pop-ups. The one depicted above, and one that reads, “Microsoft Edge runs on the same technology as Chrome, with the added trust of Microsoft. Browse securely now.”
The idea, of course, is to prevent Chrome users from even downloading the other browser. This stands alongside Microsoft’s other anti-competitive practices in Windows 11, such as making it hard to switch the default browser and, even when a user figures out how and takes the time, secretly making it impossible to switch some tasks away from Edge.
It’s fair to point out that Chrome also provides similar pop-ups. For example, when you browse to Google.com using Edge, you’ll see a pop-up that says, “Google recommends using Chrome. Built for Windows. Easily search on Google with the fast, secure browser. Don’t switch.” But then, we’re not really using Google as the standard for the right thing to do, are we?
