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“Browse securely now,” Microsoft warns Windows users installing Google Chrome. “Microsoft Edge runs on the same technology as Chrome,” it says, “with the added trust of Microsoft.” This warning is not new, but it’s about to ramp up.

Chrome remains the de facto default browser for most Windows users, with almost six-times the market share of Microsoft’s Edge browser. The ongoing campaign to push Windows users to the Edge has not relented in years. Just as with Bing versus Google itself or Copilot versus Gemini, Microsoft wants its Windows users to go all-in.

If there are any remaining doubts that Microsoft is specifically targeting Chrome users, urging them to switch to Edge, then a new report from Windows Latest might put those to rest. A targeted campaign that “makes it obvious that Microsoft really wants you to stop using Google Chrome and open Edge instead.”

This latest ruse includes taskbar flags now in Canary (pre-release) which “pin Edge when you close the browser.” Per Windows Latest, this approach “isn’t exactly new, but the flags have a specific mention of Google Chrome.”

Those flags include “msOptimizeChromePBSignalForPinningOnCloseCampaigns,” which triggers when exiting the browser. But more starkly, a new flag is called “msPinningCampaignChromeUsageGreaterThan90Trigger” and pushes users to pin Edge to their taskbar “when Chrome’s usage is greater than 90%.”

“The intent is clear,” Windows Latest says. “Microsoft wants to show a ‘pin to taskbar’ pop-up for Edge if you use Chrome most of the time.” And this “exit-time nudge” will have “a hard trigger at a ‘>90% Chrome usage’ threshold.

These flags are in development for now, and perhaps this publicity will tone them down before anything is generally released. But the Chrome installation alerts and advice to change browser in attack notifications are already live in the real world.

Google has accused Microsoft of dirty tricks before, as it tries to steer Windows users away from Chrome. It’s a battle that is not yet making much difference to browsing behaviors. But many enterprise users will know that Microsoft’s approach also includes mandating Edge as the browser in secure company ecosystems.

The response to this latest campaign has been unsurprising.

“Microsoft is testing another awful campaign to get Chrome users to move to Edge,” BGR says. “This kind of behavior isn’t exactly new. Microsoft has been desperate to get Chrome users to ditch Google’s browser for years, even going to some extreme lengths to try to make it happen.”

While XDA Developers says “from entering your search for ‘Google Chrome download’ on Bing to clicking the website and visiting the download page, Microsoft will do its utmost best to remind you that, hey, it worked really hard on Edge, and it’s running on Chromium now, so there's no need to use another browser, honest.”

“Sorry, Microsoft: your latest attempt to get people to switch over to Edge in Windows 11 is crossing a line,” Tech Radar says, taking an even firmer line: “It might not ever happen - and I hope it doesn’t, because this really isn’t a path Microsoft needs to be going any further down.” Put more simply, “Microsoft is only helping itself (and Edge).”

As to whether this will go live, XDA Developers says that while “Microsoft is still working on the flags, there’s a chance that the company decides not to go ahead with the plan. However, knowing how Microsoft has targeted Chrome in the past, I would wager that Microsoft will forge ahead and make this feature a reality, unfortunately.”

I have approached both Microsoft and Google to get any views on this latest twist, as the browser war between the two dominant tech giants continues unabated.

callmeDDD:
Microsoft edge that is full of bloatware and the worst is that you can't uninstall them easily. They will force them on you again in the next update. I hate that browser with passion.

SocialJustice:
If Google wasn't a lazy company, they should have pushed Microsoft windows out of consumer market with chrome os but they are jokers.

Jacktheripper:
No, they actually need Microsoft Windows as a minor competitor. If not, the US government can step in and call them a monopoly and sue with antitrust laws like they did to Standard oil.