Nagging as a dark pattern should be made illegal.
... when it suits them.
In this article's context (Windows), you would have put in the effort to download Chrome yourself and then used it, which is a heck of a lot of intent, as compared to what Microsoft is doing here.
If you stop nagging users to update their software it's going to make everybody's operational security even worse than before
- Upgrade to Windows 11, our most secure operating system ever!
(more secure against which benchmark?)
- Switch to Bing, our most secure browser ever!
- Enter your phone number into Facebook to help secure your account!
(translation: we want another data point to track you)
None of the above is technically wrong, but it doesn't mean that the intention of the nagging is to protect users.
This one should be in comparison to Windows 10 wrt benchmark.
eg is it secure because of fewer CVEs? You'd probably expect fewer CVEs because it is newer, so that doesn't mean it is more "secure" in any meaningful way but it's definitely an easy position to defend if someone were to challenge Microsoft's claim.
Asking someone to come over from a competitor's current product doesn't sound like an actual security intent.
Observing when a competing browser is used to visit a competing site and then having the desktop OS open a popup crosses a very different line.
Wasn't it more of "just confirm the data we slurped from one of your friends when they allowed us access to their contacts. we already have your number, we just want it official from you so we can move it from the dark profile to your main profile where it is absolutely already being used to track you, so why not?"
When I push an update that prompts my users to update their software, it's because it fixes a CVE
If the companies continue to bundle adware updates with security updates, lesser security might actually be a better outcome for users.