{"id":825283,"date":"2025-02-08T07:11:55","date_gmt":"2025-02-08T13:11:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/08\/microsoft-windows-forces-browser-change-for-all-google-chrome-users\/"},"modified":"2025-02-08T07:11:55","modified_gmt":"2025-02-08T13:11:55","slug":"microsoft-windows-forces-browser-change-for-all-google-chrome-users","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/08\/microsoft-windows-forces-browser-change-for-all-google-chrome-users\/","title":{"rendered":"Microsoft Windows Forces Browser Change For All Google Chrome Users"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<figure role=\"presentation\"><figcaption><fbs-accordion><\/p>\n<p role=\"button\">This update is a surprise<\/p>\n<p><\/fbs-accordion><small>Jaap Arriens\/NurPhoto<\/small><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Microsoft and Google have been embroiled in a fairly intense browser battle over recent weeks, with the Chrome-maker accusing the Windows-maker of tricking its users by either <a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/zakdoffman\/2025\/01\/26\/microsoft-just-made-google-disappear-on-your-iphone-android-and-pc\/\" data-ga-track=\"InternalLink:https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/zakdoffman\/2025\/01\/26\/microsoft-just-made-google-disappear-on-your-iphone-android-and-pc\/\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"hiding\">hiding<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/zakdoffman\/2025\/01\/16\/google-stops-microsoft-tricking-windows-users-new-update-fails\/\" data-ga-track=\"InternalLink:https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/zakdoffman\/2025\/01\/16\/google-stops-microsoft-tricking-windows-users-new-update-fails\/\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"mimicking\">mimicking<\/a> its products. The contest has pitched Chrome versus Edge, with the former maintaining its unassailable lead. But in the desktop world, almost all these users are Microsoft\u2019s as well, and so it\u2019s really Goliath against Goliath.<\/p>\n<p>In pushing Chrome users to the Edge, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/zakdoffman\/2024\/12\/21\/microsoft-warns-millions-of-windows-users-change-your-browser-now\/\" data-ga-track=\"InternalLink:https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/zakdoffman\/2024\/12\/21\/microsoft-warns-millions-of-windows-users-change-your-browser-now\/\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"Microsoft stresses the security and privacy of Edge\">Microsoft stresses the security and privacy of Edge<\/a>, which it says is better than Chrome. Google clearly disagrees. Now Microsoft has forced a change of browser for Chrome users, with a surprising result.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/zakdoffman\/2025\/02\/07\/new-apple-spyware-warning-check-this-iphone-setting-now\/\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"New Apple Spyware Warning\u2014Check This iPhone Setting Now\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-ga-track=\"forbesEmbedly:https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/zakdoffman\/2025\/02\/07\/new-apple-spyware-warning-check-this-iphone-setting-now\/\"><span><span>Forbes<\/span><span>New Apple Spyware Warning\u2014Check This iPhone Setting Now<\/span><small>By <span>Zak Doffman<\/span><\/small><\/span><span><span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p>One of the criticisms leveled at Chrome is whether it\u2019s private browsing \u2014 known as Incognito Mode \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2023\/12\/30\/1222268415\/google-settles-5-billion-privacy-lawsuit\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-ga-track=\"ExternalLink:https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2023\/12\/30\/1222268415\/google-settles-5-billion-privacy-lawsuit\" aria-label=\"is really private\">is really private<\/a>. You\u2019d think this would be a thread for Microsoft to pull, given the thrust of its marketing case. But instead, the Windows-maker has just made Chrome better, improving its security and privacy for a billion desktop users.<\/p>\n<p>As reported by the ever reliable <a href=\"https:\/\/www.windowslatest.com\/2025\/02\/06\/microsoft-made-chromes-incognito-more-private-on-windows-11-windows-10\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-ga-track=\"ExternalLink:https:\/\/www.windowslatest.com\/2025\/02\/06\/microsoft-made-chromes-incognito-more-private-on-windows-11-windows-10\/\" aria-label=\"Windows Latest\"><em data-ga-track=\"ExternalLink:https:\/\/www.windowslatest.com\/2025\/02\/06\/microsoft-made-chromes-incognito-more-private-on-windows-11-windows-10\/\">Windows Latest<\/em><\/a>, \u201chave you noticed that Windows 11 (and Windows 10) clipboard history no longer saves content you copied in Chrome\u2019s incognito? It\u2019s not a bug but a feature and a part of Microsoft\u2019s efforts to make Chromium\u2019s private browsing more \u2018private\u2019 on Windows.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The changes were made last year, but were not notably documented or publicized and are only being picked up now. \u201cNormally, when you copy something in a Chromium-based browser, it gets stored in Windows\u2019s Clipboard History,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcworld.com\/article\/2600719\/chrome-incognito-mode-no-longer-saves-copied-stuff-to-clipboard-history.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-ga-track=\"ExternalLink:https:\/\/www.pcworld.com\/article\/2600719\/chrome-incognito-mode-no-longer-saves-copied-stuff-to-clipboard-history.html\" aria-label=\"PC World\"><em data-ga-track=\"ExternalLink:https:\/\/www.pcworld.com\/article\/2600719\/chrome-incognito-mode-no-longer-saves-copied-stuff-to-clipboard-history.html\">PC World<\/em><\/a> explains. \u201cIf you have Clipboard Sync enabled, that history will sync across all your cloud-synced devices. You probably don\u2019t want that happening when browsing in private.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This does get to a central issue as to the understood meaning of private browsing. It\u2019s not the same across different products. For example, Safari keeps all data private within a private browsing tab, close the tab and delete its data. Whereas Chrome keeps data live across <em>all <\/em>open private tabs, and only closing all of them delete the data.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/zakdoffman\/2025\/02\/05\/change-your-iphone-settings-now-to-stop-tiktok-being-deleted\/\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"TikTok\u2019s iPhone Warning\u2014When Will Your App Be Deleted?\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-ga-track=\"forbesEmbedly:https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/zakdoffman\/2025\/02\/05\/change-your-iphone-settings-now-to-stop-tiktok-being-deleted\/\"><span><span>Forbes<\/span><span>TikTok\u2019s iPhone Warning\u2014When Will Your App Be Deleted?<\/span><small>By <span>Zak Doffman<\/span><\/small><\/span><span><span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p>In this case, per <em>Windows Latest<\/em>, \u201cthe whole point of incognito is to hide and protect everything you do in that private browsing session, but is it really private when Google is leaking and syncing Chrome\u2019s copied content across your devices? Certainly not. Syncing the private clipboard content defeats the purpose of using incognito.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s another similar change that has also gone live. Video thumbnails for media playing within Incognito Mode no longer show on lock screens or when adjusting the volume on your PC. Again, it\u2019s all about redefining \u201cprivate.\u201d Good news for users, albeit an odd one given the wider context. Either way, kudos to both Microsoft and Google for working together to get this deployed seamlessly and with very little fuss.<\/p>\n<p>Now, back to where we were\u2026<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><span>Follow me on\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.twitter.com\/@ukzak\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Twitter<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/zakdoffman\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">LinkedIn<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/zakdoffman\/2025\/02\/07\/microsoft-windows-forces-browser-change-for-all-google-chrome-users\" class=\"button purchase\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Read More<\/a><br \/>\n Zak Doffman<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This update is a surprise Jaap Arriens\/NurPhoto Microsoft and Google have been embroiled in a fairly intense browser battle over recent weeks, with the Chrome-maker accusing the Windows-maker of tricking its users by either hiding or mimicking its products. The contest has pitched Chrome versus Edge, with the former maintaining its unassailable lead. But in<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":825284,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[78,23032],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-825283","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-microsoft","category-windows"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/825283","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=825283"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/825283\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/825284"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=825283"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=825283"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=825283"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}