Disclaimer: I work at Microsoft, but not on Windows or Edge. I am speaking anonymously.If you aren't living under a rock, you may have heard about Microsoft Edge getting real annoying, whether the popups to set it as your "default" browser on Windows 10/11, the coupon code finder, or now the installment plan (does your browser *really* need that?).Edge started out as a very lightweight Windows browser, but after the switchover to Chromium, it has become extremely bloated. Edge is just mindlessly adding features.If you look at Opera (meaning the Chromium one), they have been mindlessly adding features hoping some feature would become a hit, while not really having real a differentiator versus Chrome. Why would I need a "free VPN" when Tor Browser is almost always a more secure option? And no wonder why Opera's marketshare is so small.In comparison, Brave and Vivaldi have a clear goal on what they want in their browser. Brave wants to be the private, ad-blocking browser which helps the web move on from the advertising, Big Data, and AI-powered Internet we came to hate. Vivaldi has a smaller niche: the power user's customizable browser. On the flip side, Edge and Opera have no real goal on what they want to be while attempting to "compete" with Chrome.Firefox isn't perfect either. Mozilla has certainly alienated users, but in the opposite direction of Edge. While Edge packs their browser with features, Firefox has been trimming out features hoping to become Chrome. I don't agree with the way Mozilla is going either, but not to the same extent, but I don't want Firefox to go all-in on Chromium.But unlike Opera, Edge is trying to force people to use it by making Windows ignore a user's defaults. Want to set your default browser? Good luck setting HTM, HTML, HTTP, and HTTPS. Open a link in a Microsoft app or on Windows? It opens Edge regardless of what you set as your default.Microsoft has gotten into trouble with antitrust with Internet Explorer in the past, but they don't remember it and are going back to the same tactics again with Edge. In the days when interest in antitrust is at a high, would Microsoft really want to try to force Edge if a lawmaker could retaliate and ban it (assuming they would do that), even if the said lawmaker was targeting the Apple App Store? I actually want lawmakers to encourage "competition" by banning Microsoft's tactics.Edge is basically if Comcast or Oracle made your browser. It's gonna backfire very hard.Even if Microsoft successfully makes people use Edge, they certainly won't be happy using it. They would use it not because they want to, but because they were forced to. It's like going back to the IE days along with the iOS App Store restrictions.