I'm still using Firefox and it works great.

The tricking people to sign in stuff is nefarious and is a more recent and growing problem. Google even gets away with it through iOS by forcing app logins/"authorization" that then results in the user logged in to Google on Safari. The whole Chrome logging in if someone checks their Gmail is terrible.

If your computing experience solely comes from a non-tech role in a corporate work environment where your employer legally owns your devices and they are remotely controlled and monitored, then all of this may seem fairly mundane. Otherwise, it is concerning anyone on hn would think what is going on here is ok or does not need to be actively avoided.

Depending on how you installed windows, logging into Windows is enough to have you logged into Edge (and other MS services) when you open it.

I do to use Bing+ChatGPT, which I find very helpful for research and generating code. I have also been using CodePilot for over a year. But it is a decision to use these services, and I totally understand some people not wanting to use them.

The Center for Humane Technology has good articles and video presentations on good tactics to use tech to your advantage. https://www.humanetech.com/

I use Edge at work because it suits my needs best.

I can log into my work account in the browser, letting me save my work passwords to a trusted account, and search internally using Bing. It also has decent Outlook integration, which is helpful to my workflow.

I also love vertical tabs, because I end up managing 100+ tabs at work regularly. I'm eager to see a fully conceived version of this appear in other browsers because it's honestly a game changer.

And, not a huge deal, but when you copy a URL from the address bar, it pastes as a formatted link, which is really helpful when you have to do this regularly.

It really isn't a bad browser, it's just got poor privacy, which isn't important for me when I'm working. My employer already knows what I'm up to anyway.

I use Chrome as a personal browser, so it's nice keeping them completely separate from each other.

It is fast and well integrated with Windows.

There is really no reason to use Chrome on Windows 10/11 these days.

I am no Microsoft fanatic but it is useful and convenient for me to use it also on iPad and Android to share bookmarks, send tabs between devices.

Is it perfect? Nope. Somehow scammy Microsoft Rewards is enable by default.

1- the vast majority of people who access a computing device never alter settings that matter, such as browser, location access, etc. Etc. and simply go with the flow. So when these people open Edge (or Chrome for that matter) they likely won't even notice they're logged in, and if they do will either think it's convenient or don't care

2- with the hype and hoopla of ChatGPT, a surprising number of non-tech savvy people heard " Microsoft has AI, Google doesn't", so they'll actively use Edge (and Bing) for the generative AI

It's the power of defaults. Microsoft goes hard on trying to get you to sign in anywhere in Windows with your account and if you're not careful about which button you press, it'll then use that account for everything MS-related, including Edge.

It has the best (and most reliable) integrated AI-based web experience. The Bing side bar can read what is in the open tab, etc. It's useful but it probably not worth the trade-offs