Discussion:
[Link Posting] Microsoft has a dumb idea to make people use its web browser
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Rich
2018-03-16 21:34:00 UTC
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<URL:https://www.fastcompany.com/40545799/microsoft-has-a-dumb-idea-to-m
ake-people-use-its-web-browser>
Microsoft is trying a new brute-force tactic to boost adoption of its
Edge browser. In the latest preview version of Windows 10, Microsoft's
Mail app will automatically open web links in Edge, even for users
who've set a different browser as their default. Doing so, Microsoft
says, will ensure "the best, most secure and consistent experience on
Windows 10 and across your devices."
...
RS Wood
2018-03-16 21:43:41 UTC
Permalink
On Fri, 16 Mar 2018 21:34:00 +0000 (UTC)
Microsoft is trying a new brute-force tactic to boost adoption of its
Edge browser. In the latest preview version of Windows 10, Microsoft's
Mail app will automatically open web links in Edge, even for users
who've set a different browser as their default.
So, the year is 1998 again?
Doing so, Microsoft
says, will ensure "the best, most secure and consistent experience on
Windows 10 and across your devices."
And we're using the same excuses?

So sick of companies "ensuring me the best experience" by prioritizing
their other crap. On the other hand, I've already ensured myself the
very best experience by avoiding MS products. Your turn, smart guy!

I really like Win7. Too bad it's the end of an era.

The last Win product I really don't have a great solution for is
Access, as a forms front-end to a Postgresql database. It's really
pretty damned good at what it does, and for data entry and rapid
searches, it's been a good friend.

MS Outlook is a festering dungheap, and I'm sick to death of Word and
Excel. I use Softmaker products to replace both, and they work great.

Can someone please produce an Access clone for Linux, please? Rekall
was on its way to being good when it choked on a couple-too-many crazy
pills and went off the tracks. Knoda was decent but is no longer
developed. Kexi has all sorts of limitations that piss me off, like
you can't use it to access an already-created postgresql database, you
can only create a new one. What's the point?

Meanwhile, I have just made a note to never buy/use Microsoft's mail
app. Not that there was much chance of it anyway.
Johnny B Good
2018-03-17 00:00:11 UTC
Permalink
Post by RS Wood
On Fri, 16 Mar 2018 21:34:00 +0000 (UTC)
Microsoft is trying a new brute-force tactic to boost adoption of
its Edge browser. In the latest preview version of Windows 10,
Microsoft's Mail app will automatically open web links in Edge, even
for users who've set a different browser as their default.
So, the year is 1998 again?
Doing so, Microsoft says, will ensure "the best, most secure and
consistent experience on Windows 10 and across your devices."
And we're using the same excuses?
So sick of companies "ensuring me the best experience" by prioritizing
their other crap. On the other hand, I've already ensured myself the
very best experience by avoiding MS products. Your turn, smart guy!
I really like Win7. Too bad it's the end of an era.
You hung onto MS windows for *that* long? :-)

For me, it was win2k that represented the epitome of MS OSen. I only let
go of it when my last major hardware upgrade almost three years ago, left
it high and dry of driver support (that and the fact that I needed a 64
bit OS), leaving me with the only option but to move to a Unix based
distro (Linux Mint 17.1 KDE 64 Rebecca in this case) to avoid the win10
trap MS had been baiting the previous 12 months or so.

The move was a bit of a 'culture shock' notwithstanding my having run
Ubuntu based testing systems with VBox with win2k and winXP VMs during
the preceding three years off and on to soften the impact of the
inevitable demise of win2k that was obviously going to occur with my next
five yearly major hardware upgrade.

Even so, subscribing to the alt.os.win-10 (?) news group was a smart
move on my part since it helped maintain my resolve to "Suck It Up" and
adapt to the weird and wonderful world of "Linux" by witnessing the
wailings and gnashings of teeth going on in that group which kept me
informed of the ever more extreme exploitation of MS's customer base that
I had witnessed the start of with their introduction of winXP to a
customer base who remained largely ignorant of win2k and therefore to
what a desktop OS should have remained.

My only real criticism of Linux developers is that they too seem to have
been equally as ignorant of win2k's excellence and have fallen into the
trap of aping the later windows desktop GUIs. "Fashion Is as Fashion
Does.", to paraphrase Forest Gump, seems to be the best descriptive for
this syndrome. Just because MS robbed it first, is no reason to ignore
any excellent principles behind the purloined UI. :-(
Post by RS Wood
The last Win product I really don't have a great solution for is Access,
as a forms front-end to a Postgresql database. It's really pretty
damned good at what it does, and for data entry and rapid searches, it's
been a good friend.
Luckily for me, my useage case is more of a pastime than to serve a hard
commercial need but even so, I'm glad to be able to run a winXP VM under
VBox for just a few requirements not easily met by native linux apps
(searches, file renaming and converting the odd MPG TS recording into MPG
PS media files using MpegStreamClip which still hasn't been ported and
for which there is no unix equivalent).
Post by RS Wood
MS Outlook is a festering dungheap, and I'm sick to death of Word and
Excel. I use Softmaker products to replace both, and they work great.
Can someone please produce an Access clone for Linux, please? Rekall
was on its way to being good when it choked on a couple-too-many crazy
pills and went off the tracks. Knoda was decent but is no longer
developed. Kexi has all sorts of limitations that piss me off, like you
can't use it to access an already-created postgresql database, you can
only create a new one. What's the point?
That, it seems to me, is the problem with "Free Software", a lack of
'polish' and 'completeness' with most of the non-trivial unix apps on
offer, often compounded by poor to almost non-existent documentation.
Since it's "free", it seems somewhat churlish to criticise the efforts of
the developers (often a one man effort) leaving the mere user somewhat
frustrated. All I can say is thank goodness for virtualisation as a
compromise solution to address such shortcomings.
Post by RS Wood
Meanwhile, I have just made a note to never buy/use Microsoft's mail
app. Not that there was much chance of it anyway.
In my case, no fekin' chance, ever! :-)
--
Johnny B Good
Dirk T. Verbeek
2018-03-17 08:52:44 UTC
Permalink
Post by RS Wood
I use Softmaker products to replace both, and they work great.
+1
Huge
2018-03-17 10:30:28 UTC
Permalink
Post by Rich
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<URL:https://www.fastcompany.com/40545799/microsoft-has-a-dumb-idea-to-m
ake-people-use-its-web-browser>
Microsoft is trying a new brute-force tactic to boost adoption of its
Edge browser. In the latest preview version of Windows 10, Microsoft's
Mail app will automatically open web links in Edge, even for users
who've set a different browser as their default.
My wife's Win7 box will be the last MS device in this house, and when they
stop security updates for it, she'll be getting Linux. I'll tell her it's
the new version of Windows ...
--
Today is Sweetmorn, the 3rd day of Discord in the YOLD 3184
Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn.
Johnny B Good
2018-03-17 13:40:41 UTC
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Post by Huge
Post by Rich
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Post by Huge
Post by Rich
<URL:https://www.fastcompany.com/40545799/microsoft-has-a-dumb-idea-to-m
ake-people-use-its-web-browser>
Microsoft is trying a new brute-force tactic to boost adoption of its
Edge browser. In the latest preview version of Windows 10,
Microsoft's Mail app will automatically open web links in Edge, even
for users who've set a different browser as their default.
My wife's Win7 box will be the last MS device in this house, and when
they stop security updates for it, she'll be getting Linux. I'll tell
her it's the new version of Windows ...
Pick the right distro and the "Pains of Transition" could easily be less
than submitting to a "Microsoft Upgrade". You Sir, have an excellent
chance of getting away with that little white lie. :-)
--
Johnny B Good
Voyager529
2018-03-21 15:43:07 UTC
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Post by Rich
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<URL:https://www.fastcompany.com/40545799/microsoft-has-a-dumb-idea-to-make-people-use-its-web-browser
Microsoft is trying a new brute-force tactic to boost adoption of its
Edge browser. In the latest preview version of Windows 10, Microsoft's
Mail app will automatically open web links in Edge, even for users
who've set a different browser as their default. Doing so, Microsoft
says, will ensure "the best, most secure and consistent experience on
Windows 10 and across your devices."
...
Well, to be fair, who is this really going to affect? If you're using the
built in Microsoft Mail client, in all its MetroUI craptastic glory, using
Edge probably won't bother users. After all, this doesn't affect
Thunderbird, eM Client, Evolution, Opera Mail, or even MS Outlook, all of
which will continue to use the default browser. Moreover, with a whole lot
of people using browser-based e-mail frontends like Gmail or similar, the
actual quantity of impacted users has to be quite small. Anyone who
doesn't like this change can happily use any of the aforementioned
applications, some of them for free, and it's not like we're dealing with
the users who are change-averse, since the client is less than two years
old.

I shed no tears.
Sylvia Else
2018-03-22 04:50:36 UTC
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Post by Rich
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<URL:https://www.fastcompany.com/40545799/microsoft-has-a-dumb-idea-to-m
ake-people-use-its-web-browser>
Microsoft is trying a new brute-force tactic to boost adoption of its
Edge browser. In the latest preview version of Windows 10, Microsoft's
Mail app will automatically open web links in Edge, even for users
who've set a different browser as their default. Doing so, Microsoft
says, will ensure "the best, most secure and consistent experience on
Windows 10 and across your devices."
...
del edge.exe
copy firefox.exe edge.exe

Sylvia.
Bob Eager
2018-03-22 09:31:44 UTC
Permalink
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Post by Sylvia Else
Post by Rich
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# this Usenet article is not the author of the referenced website. #
####################################################################
Post by Sylvia Else
Post by Rich
<URL:https://www.fastcompany.com/40545799/microsoft-has-a-dumb-idea-to-
m
Post by Sylvia Else
Post by Rich
ake-people-use-its-web-browser>
Microsoft is trying a new brute-force tactic to boost adoption of
its Edge browser. In the latest preview version of Windows 10,
Microsoft's Mail app will automatically open web links in Edge, even
for users who've set a different browser as their default. Doing so,
Microsoft says, will ensure "the best, most secure and consistent
experience on Windows 10 and across your devices."
...
del edge.exe
copy firefox.exe edge.exe
Why waste time with the redundant first command? :)
--
Using UNIX since v6 (1975)...

Use the BIG mirror service in the UK:
http://www.mirrorservice.org
Sylvia Else
2018-03-22 11:08:21 UTC
Permalink
Post by Rich
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Post by Sylvia Else
Post by Rich
# ATTENTION: This post is a reference to a website. The poster of #
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Post by Sylvia Else
Post by Rich
<URL:https://www.fastcompany.com/40545799/microsoft-has-a-dumb-idea-to-
m
Post by Sylvia Else
Post by Rich
ake-people-use-its-web-browser>
Microsoft is trying a new brute-force tactic to boost adoption of
its Edge browser. In the latest preview version of Windows 10,
Microsoft's Mail app will automatically open web links in Edge, even
for users who've set a different browser as their default. Doing so,
Microsoft says, will ensure "the best, most secure and consistent
experience on Windows 10 and across your devices."
...
del edge.exe
copy firefox.exe edge.exe
Why waste time with the redundant first command? :)
It makes me feel good.

Sylvia.
RS Wood
2018-03-22 13:46:47 UTC
Permalink
On Thu, 22 Mar 2018 22:08:21 +1100
Post by Sylvia Else
Post by Bob Eager
Why waste time with the redundant first command? :)
It makes me feel good.
Ha ha, it's like that old joke (pretty sure i posted it somewhere once
before). A Soviet calls up the telephone operator and asks to be
connected to the KGB. The operator says, the KGB office just suffered
a fire and burned to the ground.

The next day the guy calls again. Operator explains the same.

Third day the guy calls again, and the operator gets angry. "What's
the matter with you? I've just told you several times the building
burned to the ground?"

"I know," the guy says. "I just like hearing it."

PS I haven't tested, but I'm pretty sure renaming the firefox binary
would cause it to shit its pants, somehow.
Huge
2018-03-22 15:47:20 UTC
Permalink
Post by RS Wood
On Thu, 22 Mar 2018 22:08:21 +1100
Post by Sylvia Else
Post by Bob Eager
Why waste time with the redundant first command? :)
It makes me feel good.
Ha ha, it's like that old joke (pretty sure i posted it somewhere once
before). A Soviet calls up the telephone operator and asks to be
connected to the KGB. The operator says, the KGB office just suffered
a fire and burned to the ground.
The next day the guy calls again. Operator explains the same.
Third day the guy calls again, and the operator gets angry. "What's
the matter with you? I've just told you several times the building
burned to the ground?"
"I know," the guy says. "I just like hearing it."
The last time I heard that, it was about Buddy Rich dying.
--
Today is Sweetmorn, the 8th day of Discord in the YOLD 3184
Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn.
Sylvia Else
2018-03-23 01:11:01 UTC
Permalink
Post by RS Wood
On Thu, 22 Mar 2018 22:08:21 +1100
Post by Sylvia Else
Post by Bob Eager
Why waste time with the redundant first command? :)
It makes me feel good.
Ha ha, it's like that old joke (pretty sure i posted it somewhere once
before). A Soviet calls up the telephone operator and asks to be
connected to the KGB. The operator says, the KGB office just suffered
a fire and burned to the ground.
The next day the guy calls again. Operator explains the same.
Third day the guy calls again, and the operator gets angry. "What's
the matter with you? I've just told you several times the building
burned to the ground?"
"I know," the guy says. "I just like hearing it."
PS I haven't tested, but I'm pretty sure renaming the firefox binary
would cause it to shit its pants, somehow.
Possibly. It also might not like being invoked from the wrong place.

Easy enough to replace edge.exe with something that invokes firefox with
the same parameters.

Sylvia.

Bruce Horrocks
2018-03-22 22:10:22 UTC
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Post by Rich
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Post by Sylvia Else
Post by Rich
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####################################################################
Post by Sylvia Else
Post by Rich
<URL:https://www.fastcompany.com/40545799/microsoft-has-a-dumb-idea-to-
m
Post by Sylvia Else
Post by Rich
ake-people-use-its-web-browser>
Microsoft is trying a new brute-force tactic to boost adoption of
its Edge browser. In the latest preview version of Windows 10,
Microsoft's Mail app will automatically open web links in Edge, even
for users who've set a different browser as their default. Doing so,
Microsoft says, will ensure "the best, most secure and consistent
experience on Windows 10 and across your devices."
...
del edge.exe
copy firefox.exe edge.exe
Why waste time with the redundant first command? :)
Just in case, in a moment of senility, you reverse the filenames in the
second.
--
Bruce Horrocks
Surrey
England
(bruce at scorecrow dot com)
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