Would you use Edge as your default browser on Windows 11 if Microsoft nags you with a 3D banner? Microsoft thinks you would. In a new experiment, which appears to be rolling out to Edge stable on Windows 11, Microsoft has turned on a banner that uses 3D graphics to promote the browser.

First spotted by Windows Latest, Microsoft has been testing the new 3D banner for a while now, but it’s now rolling out to more people. If Edge is not your default browser and you open it directly or through files like PDFs, a new banner will remind you to change your default browser settings.

The banner explains that using Edge as your default browser can help protect you from phishing and malware attacks. It asks you to confirm this change by clicking “Set default,” and then you need to confirm again in the Windows settings app.

The pop-up screen will appear after you install the new Windows updates. If you skip the banner, you’ll get another reminder to use Edge when you open the browser.

  • @[email protected]
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    1 year ago

    Only [ Confirm ] and [ Set later ] in the dialog? No way to never set/change/cancel? Rapist mentality?

    • @[email protected]
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      151 year ago

      corporations are people when it comes to “free speech” (read: political bribes) but they aren’t when it comes to accountability. this is what happens when you don’t treat corporations like people and fucking jail them for shit like this.

  • xep
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    271 year ago

    What is 3D about the banner? The mouse cursor graphic?

    • @[email protected]
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      1 year ago

      I moved from Windows 10 to Fedora/Debian recently. Dual-booting them until I figure out which one I want to use. I’ve used Debian on servers for 20+ years, but Fedora seems like a great distro too. I switched to Fedora at work too, and I’m enjoying it. At work, I can choose between a MacBook with MacOS, or a Lenovo ThinkStation or X1 Carbon / P1 with Windows or Fedora.

      The only Windows-specific app I really cared about was Visual Studio, but Jetbrains Rider is looking like a good replacement. I don’t really do any PC gaming any more.

      • @[email protected]
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        151 year ago

        Both Fedora and Debian are excellent choices.

        I keep feeling compelled to suggest people try the atomic versions of Fedora. They do upgrades in a way that cannot get stuck halfway, and if the upgrade breaks something you can roll back. I think it’s neat.

        • @[email protected]
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          1 year ago

          For desktop PC use, I think I’m liking Fedora more than Debian. The newer packages have been useful - Wayland seems less buggy for instance (thankfully I’ve got an AMD laptop, but unfortunately my desktop has an Nvidia GPU)

          I’ve thought about the Atomic version, but don’t really have much time to learn a lot of new stuff at the moment. How different is the workflow with the atomic versions vs the regular Fedora?

          • Amanda
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            31 year ago

            It depends. For development work it’s literally the same since you usually set up a container for each project that runs regular fedora. Otherwise you usually install software from flatpak.

            Installing system wide packages is possible but kind of annoying since they don’t activate until you reboot.

          • @[email protected]
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            11 year ago

            It’s not wildly different IMO, but yeah it is different enough that you might not be interested.

            Installing system packages means layering a commit on top of your base distro, so they urge most CLI stuff to be done in containers. GUI apps tend to be installed as Flatpaks, that part might be familiar.

            If you’re mostly working with Rider and can easily set it up to work with dev containers, the learning curve might not be too steep.

    • @[email protected]
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      101 year ago

      They pushed me to Linux (Arch btw).

      They aren’t targeting people like me though. They are targeting people like my wife that doesn’t read what she clicks and just accepts it.

      Microsoft are being really very pushy to get people to use Edge.

    • trevor (he/they)
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      321 year ago

      Obligatory people getting mad at you for people suggesting you stop using software that is openly hostile toward you response.

  • @[email protected]
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    71 year ago

    One one hand, this can be pretty annoying.

    On the other, when thinking about the lowest common denominator general user that’s been tricked into running some awful PUP-ware browser, I can understand MS’s point.

    • @[email protected]
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      111 year ago

      This banner is the same tactic used by malware. It targets the average Joe that just accepts anything thrown in their face. It’s the same with the cookie popup we see in the EU. People just click accept to get it out their way so they can view the content they came to see.

      • @[email protected]
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        61 year ago

        “Hey you, yes exactly you. Do you wanna accept all cookies or just part of them?”

        Fucking bullshit what if I don’t want any of them. I’m glad extensions partially fix this

        • @[email protected]
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          21 year ago

          But again it’s only the minority using extensions or actually taking the time to deny cookies.

    • deweydecibel
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      31 year ago

      You can not seriously believe that’s their primary concern, do you?

      • @[email protected]
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        41 year ago

        Ever since windows 11, edge, and MS’s approach to resetting defaults, I’ve stopped getting support calls from relatives. Yes it’s riddled with annoyances but it’s a net improvement over previous gen software. I see regular people struggle with tech and can tell things have improved dramatically for them.

  • @[email protected]
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    491 year ago

    When did desktop operating systems become a place for live A/B tests of ads?

    This is something I expect from a malicious website like Facebook, not the fucking operating system.

    • @[email protected]
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      21 year ago

      It’s probably the browser, not the OS, that’s doing this. The teams are separate although someone in upper management oversees them both.

      • @[email protected]
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        1 year ago

        Most Android skins. Even stock Android can get naggy at times.

        And don’t even get me started on iOS if you haven’t done what Apple wants you to do. It’ll give you a pop-up at least once every day.

        Oh, and Smart TVs? Don’t even think about having any control; you are a slave to the OS.

        • @[email protected]
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          1 year ago

          I may have done everything Apple wants me to do then. I remember getting a single Apple Music popup in the Music app years ago, but nowadays I’m subscribed to their music service anyway. Do they nag (more than once) nowadays when you’re not subscribed? That’d suck hard.

          Should I ever get nagged again and again by my iPhone, I’ll switch phones. This constant nagging and not respecting my settings is the #1 reason I switched from Windows to Linux.

          • @[email protected]
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            21 year ago

            If you aren’t signed into an Apple ID it’ll give you nag pop-ups.

            If you don’t accept the iCloud T&C, even if you never use it, it’ll give you nag pop-ups.

            If you haven’t set up Apple pay, it’ll give you nag pop-ups.

            It’ll also give you a double nag pop-up for every new minor iOS version until you update it.

            I’m sure I’m missing a bunch here.

          • @[email protected]
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            21 year ago

            Other than Apple music and iCloud, they’re generally less intrusive about popups than Microsoft. Their tactic is to completely prevent competitors from integrating with the system at all rather than nag you to use a setting. For example, there’s no way to use Google maps or Spotify in all the same ways you can use Apple music or Maps.

    • @[email protected]
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      71 year ago

      We got click-baited into reading about Microsoft doing shady shit with their browser default settings (again, no less!), but that part wasn’t even mentioned in the article.

    • sunzu
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      31 year ago

      As somebody recently reminded me… Think googled android but with more legs!

      • @[email protected]
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        11 year ago

        I don’t think I’ve ever gotten an ad from the OS on Android. I know some manufacturers, Samsung in particular, include ads but that’s not “Android” so much as “Samsung’s shitty skin of Android.”

        The closest I’ve gotten to an ad on Pixel is a thing to review new features after updates.

        • sunzu
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          11 year ago

          I think you are missing the point here and how ad tracking works tbh.

          Googled android is deff sucking u try on data and them using that data to shows ads where they see you serfing.

    • @[email protected]
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      81 year ago

      Since you asked, and I commented on Lemmy about this before.

      Back in the Windows XP and even Windows 7 days Microsoft was trying to sell computers to people. It had to convince people why computers are worth their time.

      Fast forward to Windows 10 and now it’s, “ok we now got an audience that’s addicted to our operating system, lets see what we can get away with. We might lose like 1% to Linux and like 5% to mac doing some of these while most of everyone won’t switch at all. and we increase our profits.”

  • @[email protected]
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    171 year ago

    Microsoft could care less about your PCs resources when you’re idk, playing some 4k or even 8k video games. What a joke, but for real, if any of you use WIndows at home and don’t want to jump straight to Linux. You can (temporally jump over to Chromebooks, which will mostly work out of the box, and has support for Linux apps.

    Chromebook’s I would argue are perfect for getting users use to Linux apps without having to worry about losing any familiarity they might have with Something like WIndows or Mac.

  • @[email protected]
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    211 year ago

    I get that Edge may not be the preferred browser of many, but calling this a “3D banner” seems a bit sensational at best. It’s just clipart of an arrow.

  • andrew_bidlaw
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    161 year ago

    I have a dream of that time when small MS’s changes won’t get media coverage because even tech journos will not use the latest Windows release anymore.