For some time now, I have thought that Microsoft Edge is a good browser. Feature-rich, good performance, a member of the now almost ubiquitous Chromium family, an attractive design that Microsoft is often afraid to improve… the list of reasons to choose this browser is so extensive that it is difficult to understand that the Redmonds do things so good and others completely bad.

The web browser market is, you know, a tough fight, where Google, Microsoft and Apple mainly play. The former, as you already know, enjoys a comfortable first position with Chrome, which according to the latest data (February 2024) has a desktop market share of 65.38%. Microsoft Edge and Apple’s Safari are fiercely competing for second place, a position Microsoft’s browser has held since December last year.

So it’s understandable that tech companies are doing everything in their power to consolidate their position. That is, everything that is within your power within the law and, if possible, respect for the user. And unfortunately This is the point where Microsoft sometimes goes overboard.. We’ve seen this in the past with Windows desktop icons, features built into the operating system, Chrome download deterrent messages on Bing, and other actions along those lines. And whenever there is a new case to this effect, I fervently hope it is the last.

However, it seems that in Redmond they cannot resist going a little further than is appropriate, because, as we can read in The Verge, Microsoft has again shown intrusive messages in Chrome that encourage you to use Edge. In this case, the displayed message appeals that Copilot’s user experience will be better because it will be based on GPT-4 and also allow longer conversations with the chatbot. However, a Microsoft spokesperson confirms that this message will only appear once, so at least it’s not permanent.

The problem is that looking at its evolution, it is undeniable that the growth of Microsoft Edge’s user share is not rapid, but organic and sustainable over time. However, these types of actions have very negative results, such as those responsible for not trusting their browser enough to resort to intrusive techniques, in this case at the level of pop-ups from malware sites, and also create a negative image. in many users who feel annoyed by this type of action, and rightfully so.