Microsoft can’t help but undermine itself, it seems. After launching the new Edge browser last year to much praise, Microsoft apparently went out of its way to ruin it, including the imposition of unwanted features and intrusive restrictions.
The latest blunder embeds a short-term fundraising app directly into Edge, a move users are furious at, as reported Ars Technica. A few weeks ago, Microsoft announced that he would build the Zip application (formerly Quadpay) directly in his browser. The finance app allows buyers to purchase a product in advance, but pay in smaller “often interest-free” installments in the future.
Zip is unique in that it does not use an interest rate but instead charges $ 1 for each installment (loans are typically paid in four installments over six weeks, so $ 4 more) as long as the payments are made on time.
The service itself isn’t what makes Edge users turn to Chrome, but rather it’s the ram of Microsoft’s third-party services constantly bombarding people with “look what we’ve added, use” notifications. it now ”.
When reading Microsoft’s support forums, it’s obvious people just want a fast, crisp browser.
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“It all seems extremely unnecessary for a boating experience. I don’t want it, ”user Jason Tenpenny wrote. “I don’t even want shopping and discovery features that you’ve all taken away. This stuff should be separated into extensions. I’m much more interested in a lightning-fast browser that uses minimal resources while still being secure. Edge on Mac is getting heavier and heavier.
“It’s just fishy, Edge is about to feel dirty to use,” another user wrote. “Edge isn’t just any random browser, it’s the (increasingly difficult to change) default for the world’s most important desktop operating system.”
These complaints come after Microsoft was criticized for pushing Edge on users who updated their PCs to Windows 11. Edge appears throughout the browser on initial startup and will likely ask you to “set as default browser” if you even dream of switching to Chrome, Firefox, or the many other browser options available.
A bigger problem is the difficulty with which Microsoft has successfully changed browsers, and to make matters worse, the software giant has blocked third-party apps like EdgeDeflector from providing workarounds so you can use alternatives in the search bar and the new taskbar widget.
Now Microsoft is offering a fundraising service that not only invades your browsing experience, but could also open the door to cybersecurity threats. Microsoft has not specified how much browsing data, if any, is made visible by Zip or how it plans to secure the app. We contacted the company for answers.
For what it’s worth, Microsoft says it “doesn’t charge a fee for connecting users to loan providers,” although it hasn’t specified whether it receives a share of the transactions. One wonders why Microsoft would add this service in the first place. If he did so because he thought Zip would be a genuinely viable option for users, he should have no problem removing the fundraising app after reading the growing number of complaints.