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Kissing and making up?

Fisticuffs can be far more energizing than everyone just getting along.

In recent times, therefore, it's been uplifting to see Google and Microsoft spitefully sniping at each other over the latter's new Edge browser.

Should you have been unaccountably detained by the nefarious authorities lately, you may not know that the minute Edge received praise, Google sniffed that it wasn't secure.

To which Microsoft offered this notice to Edge users who drifted to the Chrome Web Stor: "Extensions installed from sources other than the Microsoft Store are unverified, and may affect browser performance."

There was potential here for a few episodes of Real Browsers of Silicon Valley.

Suddenly, though, there appears to have been a disturbing rapprochement. Techdows spotted that Edge users are now being encouraged to go to the Chrome Web Store. Yes, the same place that apparently harbors extensions that are unverified and may give your browser indigestion.

I confess I'm especially disturbed by the wording that's now being tossed at Edge users: "You can also find great extensions at the Chrome Web Store."

Not merely extensions, but great extensions. I'm tempted to suspect a lawyer may have written that. Or at least someone in the Google marketing department.

Naturally, I asked Microsoft why it had suddenly lurched from prickly to cuddly. Could it be that Google and Microsoft had a kiss-and-make-up Zoom call -- I mean, a Microsoft Teams call? Or a Google Meet encounter? Microsoft declined to comment.

Perhaps, you might think, Microsoft has stopped to play nice merely because that's its brand image these days. Or perhaps some Redmonder stopped to think that, indeed, Edge doesn't currently enjoy enough of its own extensions.

My delvings into Redmond's innards suggest the latter may have driven the decision even more than the former. You really don't want to annoy your customers, do you? Especially when you can't currently offer them what they need.

Of course, Edge is based on Google's Chromium platform. In my own experimentations, I've found it to be a more pleasant experience than Chrome. Just that little bit more responsive and generally brighter -- though I can't quite cope with Bing as my default search engine.

Then again, I just looked at my Outlook email inbox and Microsoft is getting prickly again.

"The new browser recommended by Microsoft is here. Let's go," sniffs an oddly prominent banner above my emails.

Oh, let's stop.

I've already downloaded Edge. I still mostly use Firefox, though. Microsoft, if you can be nice to Google, can't you be nice to me and leave me alone?

See the original post:
Microsoft is suddenly recommending Google products and I'm worried - ZDNet