Windows 10 users could be hit by a fresh bout of plugging from Microsoft for its revamped Edge, with the web browser now being promoted within the Settings app in test builds of the operating system.
As you may be aware, the May 2020 Update ushered in a new header for the Settings app, which contains various bits of status info (such as an icon for Windows Update that can indicate when an update is pending).
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As highlighted by Windows Latest, the idea currently being tested in Windows 10 preview builds is a new option in this header for ‘Web browsing’, which advises users to restore the ‘recommended’ browser, namely Microsoft Edge, if they are using a rival such as Chrome or Firefox.
Clicking through to restore the recommended browser requires you to confirm that you wish to set Edge as your default browser (and pin it to the taskbar), while delivering a quick plug for Edge as the “best browser for Windows 10 with enhanced privacy protection”.
Adverts galore
That’s typical of the way Microsoft has been plugging Edge in Windows 10 and other services in recent times. These efforts include sizeable adverts in OneDrive, along with Edge ads in Outlook.com and the search bar in Windows 10.
While Chromium-based Edge has certainly been received favorably on the whole, and it's unarguably a big improvement on the old version of the browser, pushing it too hard runs the danger of putting people off, as we’ve seen in the past (remember how hard Microsoft pushed for the adoption of Windows 10 itself, in those early days).
Apparently this new piece of promotion for Edge is only being seen by some Windows 10 testers at the moment, so the experiment might be abandoned before a broader rollout to Windows Insiders happens – and it may never reach the release version of the desktop OS.
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