14 DAY TRIAL // We’ve known for a while that Microsoft wants everybody to use Microsoft Edge, and occasionally, the company turns to all kinds of questionable tactics to convince users from jumping ship.
This time, the software giant is turning to a gigantic banner that is displayed when people use Microsoft Edge to download Google Chrome.
As spotted by Neowin, Microsoft shows a huge banner at the top of the download page that reads “Microsoft Edge runs on the same technology as Chrome, with the added trust of Microsoft.”
At some level, this is already too late. The message is displayed on the download page, which means Google Chrome is already being downloaded on the device.
The banner shows up for testing versions of Google Chrome, including even the Canary builds.
However, the message is only displayed when the download takes place on Windows, as I just tested the whole thing on macOS and the downloading process is as quiet as possible. Sure enough, Microsoft Edge isn’t a first-class citizen on macOS, but Apple isn’t turning to such tactics when using Safari to download another browser.
Microsoft Edge is a browser that’s constantly evolving, but Microsoft’s aggressive tactics might actually backfire. Users who are getting tired of being spammed with such messages could end up switching to another browser just to get rid of the Edge push.
In the meantime, statistics put Google Chrome in the leading spot in the browser market. Depending on the market research firm, Chrome controls anywhere between 60 and 70 percent of the browser world, while Microsoft Edge is the runner-up at a huge distance with a little over 10 percent. Mozilla Firefox is the third in the charts, as it obviously loses the battle with its rivals because it’s not offered as a native solution on a widely used operating system.