Microsoft hasn’t been shy about pushing first-party services and apps in Windows, but this time, it’s getting a little ridiculous. As reported by Windows Latest, the Microsoft application PC Manager claims you can “fix” your computer simply by changing Bing to be the default search engine.
The change was spotted when using the Edge browser and having, for example, Google as the default search engine. After you run a health check, one of the suggested changes will be to set Bing as your default search engine. If that’s how you want to go, there’s a button to make it happen.
If you take its suggestion and set Bing as your default search engine, you’ll get a message letting you know you’re all set and that your PC is using recommended settings to be sure, fast, and efficient. But if you decide to ignore the recommendation, you’ll notice that your computer will continue to work as usual, just as mine did.
Some may question Microsoft’s recommendation, especially since the default search engine has nothing to do with PC performance or security. It also feels particularly problematic because of the way PC Manager is positioned, which is to “safeguard your PC in a quiet and reliable way.” The app gives no reason for why Bing would be safer or faster to use than Google, making the change feel like nothing more than an attempt to trick people into switching.
Of course, Microsoft isn’t the only company to do things like this. If you’re using Google Search in a Microsoft Edge browser, seeing a suggestion to use Chrome may not come as much of a surprise.
This recent example from Microsoft feels particularly egregious though, and hopefully is something that Microsoft will address in the future.
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