Here we go again. “Microsoft is trying a new way to stop users downloading Google Chrome.” We have seen this before. Just as with Apple, the two tech giants are pushing hard to keep users within their own walled gardens, on Safari and Edge.
The latest news comes from Windows Report. “If you open the Chrome download page in Microsoft Edge, you may see a new banner at the top.” Instead of just presenting the usual Edge versus Chrome comparison, “Microsoft now focuses on protection.”
Microsoft has played with this theme before. And it’s central to Apple’s Safari versus Chrome campaign, which is all about privacy, tracking and fingerprinting. As for this latest campaign, Microsoft frames Edge as an “all-in-one option with features like private browsing, password monitoring, and protection against online threats.”
What’s most interesting is that Microsoft has usually stressed that Edge is built on the same Chromium base as Chrome, with all the benefits of Chrome, only better. “This time, those points are missing. The message stays centered on built-in safety features.”
There is also now “a dedicated Online Safety page on Microsoft’s website,” which is where users are directed when clicking Microsoft’s “Browse securely now” button.
The Browser Choice Alliance, which includes Google Chrome amongst others, told me “Microsoft is pushing misleading messages about browsing security to interfere with users’ choices over their downloads,” and that “Microsoft should stand on the side of users instead of glossing up the same old pop-ups with new messaging, and end its campaign to undermine consumer choice and lock out competing browsers.”
