Microsoft targets Chrome again.
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Updated on Dec. 18 with new security warnings for all Chrome and Edge users.
Here we go again. “Microsoft is trying a new way to stop users from downloading Google Chrome.” We have seen this before. Just as with Apple, the two tech giants are pushing hard to keep users within their own walled gardens, on Safari and Edge.
The latest news comes from Windows Report. “If you open the Chrome download page in Microsoft Edge, you may see a new banner at the top.” Instead of just presenting the usual Edge versus Chrome comparison, “Microsoft now focuses on protection.”
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Microsoft has played with this theme before. And it’s central to Apple’s Safari versus Chrome campaign, which is all about privacy, tracking and fingerprinting. As for this latest campaign, Microsoft frames Edge as an “all-in-one option with features like private browsing, password monitoring, and protection against online threats.”
What’s most interesting is that Microsoft has usually stressed that Edge is built on the same Chromium base as Chrome, with all the benefits of Chrome, only better. “This time, those points are missing. The message stays centered on built-in safety features.”
Microsoft Vs Chrome.
Windows Report
There is also now “a dedicated Online Safety page on Microsoft’s website,” which is where users are directed when clicking Microsoft’s “Browse securely now” button.
The Browser Choice Alliance, which includes Google Chrome amongst others, told me “Microsoft is pushing misleading messages about browsing security to interfere with users’ choices over their downloads,” and that “Microsoft should stand on the side of users instead of glossing up the same old pop-ups with new messaging, and end its campaign to undermine consumer choice and lock out competing browsers.”
Microsoft Vs Chrome.
Windows Report
Chrome attracts more security threat headlines than any other browser. This year, Cybersecurity News says, “Google addressed a significant wave of actively exploited zero-day vulnerabilities affecting its Chrome browser, patching a total of eight critical flaws that threatened billions of users worldwide.”
All these vulnerabilities were “high severity with CVSS scores averaging 8.5," with the world’s most popular browser targeted "by sophisticated threat actors, including state-sponsored groups and commercial surveillance vendors.”
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But remember — most Chrome vulnerabilities affect Microsoft Edge as well. This week, Google warned two high-severity memory vulnerabilities leave Chrome open to attack.
The same day, Microsoft updated Edge users to say “Microsoft is aware of the recent Chromium security fixes. We’re actively working on releasing a security fix.” On that basis, at the time of writing, Edge lags Chrome for the fixes by at least 48-hours.
As you see, none of this is clear cut.