{"id":103457,"date":"2025-07-30T00:47:10","date_gmt":"2025-07-30T00:47:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/103457\/"},"modified":"2025-07-30T00:47:10","modified_gmt":"2025-07-30T00:47:10","slug":"opera-is-filing-a-complaint-over-microsofts-tricks-that-push-you-to-use-edge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/103457\/","title":{"rendered":"Opera is filing a complaint over Microsoft\u2019s tricks that push you to use Edge"},"content":{"rendered":"

Microsoft has used a variety of tricks<\/a> to convince people to keep using the defaults of Bing and Microsoft Edge in Windows over the years, including modifying Chrome<\/a> download sites and using malware-like popups<\/a>. Now, Opera is fed up of what it calls Microsoft\u2019s \u201cmanipulative design tactics\u201d and filed a competition complaint in Brazil today, alleging that Microsoft is using anti-competitive practices to steer people toward using Edge.<\/p>\n

\u201cMicrosoft thwarts browser competition on Windows at every turn,\u201d says Aaron McParlan, general counsel at Opera. \u201cFirst, browsers like Opera are locked out of important preinstallation opportunities. And then Microsoft frustrates users\u2019 ability to download and use alternative browsers.\u201c<\/p>\n

Opera\u2019s complaint alleges that Microsoft ignores a user\u2019s default browser choice in a variety of ways, from opening PDF files or links in Outlook and Teams, to opening links through Windows features like Search or Widgets. Opera also notes that Microsoft uses \u201cobtrusive banners and messages discouraging users from downloading alternative browsers at the very moment they are searching for those browsers on Edge.\u201c<\/p>\n

Opera filed its complaint in Brazil because it\u2019s one of the company\u2019s main markets. \u201cOpera is already a major success in Brazil: it is the third most popular browser in Brazil and has millions of loyal users in Brazil who actively choose it, despite Microsoft\u2019s tactics,\u201d McParlan says. \u201cThe complaint, which concerns practices implemented globally by Microsoft, presents an opportunity for Brazil to be a leader on this international issue.\u201d<\/p>\n

If Opera is successful with its complaint, it wants remedies from Microsoft, like allowing PC manufacturers to preload alternative default browsers, a halt to blocking consumers from downloading other browsers, and an end to \u201cdark patterns that push users towards Edge.\u201d Opera also reveals that Microsoft requires OEMs to \u201cdeliver S mode devices as a condition for rebates on a Windows OS license,\u201d which is another practice it wants to see outlawed.<\/p>\n

While the complaint will be handled by Brazil\u2019s competition authority, it\u2019s part of a broader effort from Opera to challenge Microsoft\u2019s Edge practices around the world. Opera unsuccessfully challenged<\/a> the EU\u2019s decision not to designate Microsoft Edge as a gatekeeper under its Digital Markets Act (DMA) rules last year. Microsoft escaped the designation, but it still had to make changes to Windows in EU markets in response to the DMA. These changes have led it to stop bugging Windows users about Edge<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe believe that Microsoft\u2019s conduct, including the changes that it has announced in Europe, are insufficient to attain effective compliance with the DMA,\u201d McParlan says. \u201cIn this context, and as part of its global efforts to ensure free and effective consumer choice, Opera has appealed before the EU Courts the European Commission\u2019s decision not to designate Edge as a \u2018gatekeeper\u2019 service under the DMA.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not only has Microsoft used Windows to urge people into switching to Edge in the past, the company also created a spoofed Google UI<\/a> to try and convince Bing users they were using Google earlier this year. The search results looked a lot like Google, complete with a custom search bar, a Google Doodle-like image, and some small text under the search bar just like Google Search. Microsoft quickly killed the plug<\/a> on its spoofed Google UI once people started noticing it.<\/p>\n

Opera also has a history of complaints against Microsoft\u2019s browser behavior in Windows. It originally filed an antitrust complaint with the EU in 2007<\/a>, which eventually led<\/a> to the browser ballot screen being created \u2014 allowing Windows users to pick one of the 12 most popular browsers rather than defaulting to Internet Explorer. Microsoft had to keep the browser choice screen in Windows for five years, but it was fined $730 million in 2013<\/a> for failing to include the ballot in Windows 7 Service Pack 1.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Microsoft has used a variety of tricks to convince people to keep using the defaults of Bing and…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":103458,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[252,50,153,242,158,67,132,68,1940,794],"class_list":{"0":"post-103457","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-technology","8":"tag-microsoft","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-policy","11":"tag-tech","12":"tag-technology","13":"tag-united-states","14":"tag-unitedstates","15":"tag-us","16":"tag-web","17":"tag-windows"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114939431849326680","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103457","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=103457"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103457\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/103458"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103457"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103457"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103457"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}