this is ridiculous...

I have to use a tool that only works on IE browser. (yes, I know, sucks. Regardless...)

1. open up the IE. Navigate to https://google.com
2. google is opened in Edge instead
3. Edge insists on setting Edge as default
4. google.com loads up and insists on installing and using Chrome as default.

... I just wanted to search for stuff and instead, I got 2 offers to change my browser....

You had me at ridiculous

I don't feel like blaming Microsoft for preventing you to use an obsolete and useless browser. If you need to do some retro-testing or some archeological research, the best thing to do is to create a virtual machine with Windows XP and use all the retro stuff

I seriously doubt that you have a Google tool that you can only use in IE.

You can use the IE for the shit tool and still do everything else in a browser that hasn't been out of security updates for years. Both MS and Google are actually right in this case.

@crisz I'm working in a vm with w10. How's that different?

@netikras when windows 10 was out, IE was already in a dismissal state

@crisz @netikras

Also, it's really difficult to keep Windows 10 in a predictable state.

With XP, you could turn your machine on, let it run for a year (it would crash a million times in that year, but whatever), and there would still be an ugly green bubbly start button on an ugly blue application bar and a popup saying you should click it to install 20764 updates.

With Windows 10, you turn your machine on, and Cortana might be talking to you in Russian and your default browser is now Corner instead of Edge.

Not saying XP was all that great... it was bad.

Just very predictably bad.

@bittersweet MS is trying so hard to be like Apple who gets away with fucking their users, but MS fails to get two crucial differences: first, Apple selects the 10% of users who like that. Second, Apple has lube - at a premium price, but always included.

2 offers to change your browser when using IE seems to me like not enough