Changing the user agent does the trick, though

Mar 16, 2016 07:30 GMT  ·  By

It’s not a secret that Google’s isn’t quite a supporter of Microsoft’s modern platforms, be they Windows 8, Windows 10, Windows Phone, or Windows 10 Mobile, but more recently, the company is making some changes that seem to target directly users of Redmond’s operating system.

For example, users of Microsoft Edge, the new Windows 10 default browser replacing Internet Explorer, see the old-style layout of the Google search page, whereas all other browsers, including here Chrome, Firefox, or Opera, are provided with the modern layout.

Furthermore, if you load Google Search in Microsoft Edge and change the user agent to whatever browser you want, the page refreshes and loads the modern style design.

The difference between the old and the new layout on Google’s search page pretty much comes down to the toolbar at the top of the site, which allows you to access other Google services, as well as your Google account settings. In Microsoft Edge, the toolbar extends to the whole screen, and links are posted on black background, while in any other browser, all these options are aligned to the right and have no background.

WAP page for Edge on Windows 10 Mobile

This isn’t the first time when Google provides Windows 10 users with old versions of its websites. Back in February, the search company started redirecting Edge users on Windows 10 Mobile to the WAP version of Google News while everyone on iOS and Android got the modern version.

And since the available options in terms of browsers on Windows 10 Mobile are quite limited right now (in addition to Edge, users can also install Opera Mini or UCBrowser), it was clearly an issue for those who wanted to stick with Google’s news service.

It remains to be seen if Google plans to change this unexpected approach regarding Windows 10 users, as although they do not seem to be a deal-breaker for many, they can easily contribute to a compromised experience on Microsoft’s mobile operating system.

This is the layout displayed in Microsoft Edge
This is the layout displayed in Microsoft Edge
And this is the modern version loaded in any other browser
And this is the modern version loaded in any other browser

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Microsoft Edge is the new default browser in Windows 10
This is the layout displayed in Microsoft EdgeAnd this is the modern version loaded in any other browser
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