CISA urges all Microsoft Cosmos DB users to update passwords now
Contrary to Microsoft’s suggestion, CISA advises all Cosmos DB users to err on the side of caution and rotate their keys.
Read More
Blog
- Home /
- Blog
Microsoft's browser rivals aren't happy after it made switching defaults easier
Microsoft's rivals have hit back against the company's recent change to its stance on picking a default browser.Â
The company that got into so much trouble in the 1990s for trying to squeeze rivals made an interesting change with Windows 11: obscuring the option to change the default browser, limiting it to only technically capable users and the very motivated.Â
Anyone using Windows 10 could easily change the default with a single click, something that a lot of people did. But that all changed for anyone updating to Microsoft's latest OS.Â
All change
While Edge isn't a bad browser, making it the default and then hiding the settings to change that does kind of stink, a point made loudly by its rivals.Â
Microsoft even took it a step further and began funnelling links from its services, including the Start Menu, into Edge as well.Â
All of that changed in a recent update, however, when Microsoft reintroduced an easy one-click process for changing the default - but instead of being pleased, some of the biggest names in the browser market have now hit back.
Old grudges, widely held
Speaking to The Register, Microsoft's rivals were still not happy with the company and its attempts to make Edge into a dominant browser.
"It has always been our stance that Microsoft, and others like them, should make it easy for users to choose to use the products that suit them," said Vivaldi CEO Jon von Tetzchner. "This should apply to all users, not just the ones who are technically competent enough to realize that they need to install an optional update, and know how to actually do so. It should be installed for all users."Â
"While they have made an attempt, the fact that it has been done the way it has leads to the assumption that it is only being done to avoid being prosecuted for anticompetitive behavior, not to actually solve the underlying problem."
READ MORE
Mozilla, which actually found a way around the changes, was similarly critical.
"People should have the ability to simply and easily set defaults and all operating systems should offer official developer support for default status," the company said.
"In practice, we'd like to also see progress on reducing the number of steps required to set a new browser as default, and on opening and making APIs available for apps to set default that other Microsoft applications use."
Date
08 Apr 2022Sources
Other Blog
-
-
The time has come for new bubbles in latest WhatsApp beta update
WhatsApp are continuing their efforts to improve the app, this time redesigning the bubbles in a chat.
Read More -
It looks like the pandemic didn't kill off physical stores after all
Read MoreThe pandemic changed a lot of things but perhaps none more so than our shopping habits, leading some to predict the rise of ecommerce would kill off physical stores for good.
However, new research in the Wall Street Journal shows that these predictions were premature, as consumers are now returning to physical shopping in the US as the pandemic eases following the rollout of vaccines.
Amazon, Stripe, PayPal, Shopify, and many other ecommerce companies saw their revenues and profits soar during the pandemic, driven by social distancing, the closure of shops, and the broader decline of the high street.
In the second quarter of 2020, just as the pandemic restrictions were in place, the share of US retail to e-commerce rose to 15.7%, according to Census Bureau data. But by the fourth quarter of 2021, that share had dropped to 12.9%.
“We’ve got over 100 years as a society of going into a store to buy something,” Bernstein Research analyst Mark Shmulik told the WSJ. “That muscle memory doesn’t just switch off because you were forced to buy things online a couple of times during a pandemic.”
Rise of the ecommerce giants
The pandemic was devastating for huge swathes of society and many, many companies, especially those that dealt exclusively in face-to-face services.
But for a cadre of internet companies that provide ecommerce services or sell products online, things were very good.
Amazon, the largest of the bunch, saw profits and revenue explode, from an already staggering base. According to Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, the company "realized the equivalent of three years’ forecasted growth in about 15 months".
Amazon's 2020 shopping period, which was beset by stay-at-home rules, saw sales for sellers grow 60% year-over-year to $4.8 billion worldwide over one weekend.
A return to earth
Another way of looking at the Census Bureau data is returning to the overall trend line, which sees ecommerce steadily taking a larger and larger share from physical retail.
US Q4 2021 ecommerce numbers are out today. Penetration is now right back on the trend line. pic.twitter.com/xUr8c2AND5February 18, 2022
Different lock-down, different impact. The UK stepped forward 5 years while the US is back on the trend line. pic.twitter.com/NoQiFSpbSJFebruary 18, 2022
Another interesting way of looking at the data is that the US, which had some of the loosest restrictions globally, especially into 2021, made the return to physical retail easier than elsewhere, such as the UK.
READ MORESo, while physical shopping is making a comeback - likely as people return to old habits – over the long-run, ecommerce will likely win out for many purchases.
The pandemic, it would seem, showed us a sneak peek of the future of retail.
-
Top benefits of managed VPS hosting
VPS hosting offers the flexibility of a dedicated server without the high costs.
Read More
Find Out More About Us
Want to hire best people for your project? Look no further you came to the right place!