Microsoft Edge tries to stop you from downloading Google Chrome

Ben Schoon | Dec 2 2021 - 7:27 am PT

Google Chrome is the most popular browser in the world, and that pushes Microsoft and others to go to great lengths to make a dent in the market. Microsoft Edge was rebuilt using the same base as Chrome last year, and it’s really good, but Microsoft is yet again aggressively trying to stop users from downloading Google Chrome on Windows.

Microsoft’s latest attempt to push people away from Chrome is pretty passive aggressive. As spotted by Windows Latest, Microsoft Edge, the default browser provided with Windows 10 and Windows 11, now triggers a pop-up trying to keep users on the Edge browser instead of jumping on board with Google.

Microsoft Edge runs on the same technology as Chrome, with the added trust of Microsoft.
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The pop-up clearly attacks Google’s privacy and data policies, which have been a point of scrutiny by some over the past few years. Google, notably, has also put up messages in Chrome to avoid losing users to Edge.

As Neowin points out, there are other versions of the same message, too.

That browser is so 2008! Do you know what’s new? Microsoft Edge.

‘I hate saving money,’ said no one ever. Microsoft Edge is the best browser for online shopping.

This is just the latest in a series of moves Microsoft has made to push its Edge browser over Google Chrome and other alternatives. One of the most recent examples came with Windows 11, which sends users far out of their way to change the default browser by implementing default browsers for every imaginable action rather than a one-stop setting. Microsoft also forcibly installed its new Edge on Windows last year, with a full-page pop-up that angered many.