Bing Wallpaper is a new app that Microsoft recently launched in the Windows Store. It offers users a convenient way change desktop wallpaper daily. The application includes a collection of images from around the world that have appeared on the home page of Microsoft’s search engine. There are all kinds of pictures, each one is more beautiful. On that side, fine, but there are hidden “gifts” that discourage its use.

Some developers act like real malware vendors, filling their products with really dubious features and hidden payloads that are classified as adware and/or bloatware, issues that ultimately affect privacy and security. When third-party developers do this, it’s usually no bigger problem than not using their software at all. However, when Microsoft exhibits similar behavior, the problem escalates because 8 out of 10 computers worldwide use Windows.

Bing wallpaper, nice but only on the outside

The complaint came from an acquaintance, Rafael Rivera. The developer assures that Bing Wallpaper is a real nightmare for users’ security and privacy and defines directly as an application “malicious”. The application automatically installs Bing Visual Search, contains code for decrypting cookies stored in other browsers, and also integrates a “free” geolocation web API into the system.

The developer discovered “many” nasty tricks that Microsoft integrates into Bing Wallpaperincluding trying to change browser settings and setting Edge as the system’s default browser. If the default browser is not Edge, the app will open the default browser after a while and ask to enable the previously installed Microsoft Bing Search Chrome extension.

In summary. This application changes the user’s default web browser and search engine, installs an unauthorized browser extension and contains code to check web browser cookies and determine the user’s geographic location. Rivera provided a list of forcibly installed extensions that users should block if they use Chrome or Firefox.

A group of users on Reddit responded to Microsoft with the usual “love” and that everything negative about Bing Wallpaper and its obsession with promoting its own services is repeated too often. In this case, some users have gone a little further and are betting on filing a class action lawsuit. Bing Wallpaper is another development that joins the big group Unsolicited and unfriendly adware and therefore its use is not recommended. In addition, Windows 11 and 10 already have the possibility to easily change desktop wallpapers and images, there are thousands of them on the Internet for free.