Vivaldi CEO criticizes Microsoft Edge for anti-competitive practices

[harlan4096]

In 2013, the European Union slapped a massive $731 Million fine on Microsoft for failing to offer users a choice to set a default browser. 8 years have passed since then, has the Redmond company learned its lesson? Vivaldi's CEO/Co-founder Jón von Tetzchner, says no.Tetzchner founded Opera browser along with Geir Ivarsøy in the mid-90s, before leaving the company in 2011. He founded Vivaldi Technologies in 2013, though the browser they created was released a couple of years later.

Around the same timeframe, in 2015, Microsoft unveiled Edge, built with the in-house Chakra core engine, as the new default browser in Windows 10. More importantly, this was the first step in replacing/retiring the legacy Internet Explorer.

What annoyed users is that Windows 10 complicated the way to set a different browser as the default handler. You need to jump through a couple of hoops in the Settings app, before selecting the application of your choice. This move was heavily criticized, notably by Mozilla. Fast-forward to 2021, and the same applies to Windows 11, though the new Edge is based on the Blink engine, from the Chromium open source project. For reference, Vivaldi, Opera also use the same engine.

Microsoft is pushing Edge in multiple ways. It is the company's operating system and browser, technically they can advertise whatever they want, which is precisely what they are doing. Whether it is competitively ethical, is the matter in question.

Jón von Tetzchner shared a screenshot, taken from his new laptop, on Vivaldi's blog. The image shows a search query for the word Vivaldi on Microsoft's Search Engine, Bing. The top result displayed a controversial message which says, "There is no need to download a new web browser. Microsoft recommends using Microsoft Edge for a fast, secure and modern web experience....."
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