Microsoft’s web browser will soon host a new content recommendation feature. However, its mode of activation may not please everyone.
Is Microsoft about to launch the worst feature a browser can have? In any case, it’s a good start. In the latest update to Edge Canary and Edge Developer, two versions of the browser aimed at developers, Microsoft has introduced a new feature that is likely to make quite a few users cringe.
A bad interface for a hazardous user experience
This new feature, which responds to the name of Discover, is Microsoft’s new fad to recommend content to you. When the pane is open, it displays information relating to the page viewed. Only then, the user interface and the mode of triggering of this new module risk very quickly becoming unbearable. Those responsible for Edge’s interface and user experience have made a very questionable choice. They obviously saw fit to integrate the Discover button at the top right of the browser, instead of the main menu and just below the window close button for the Windows version.
But that’s not the main concern. Discover is automatically triggered when the mouse pointer is hovered over the button. In other words, as soon as you have the misfortune to touch the button, the Discover pane is displayed unexpectedly on the active Web page. And while Microsoft lets you customize the sidebar on the right, it doesn’t offer any option in its browser settings to turn off the Discover feature. Nor is there an option to modify the behavior of this new module which, if it opened in a consented manner, using a click, would pose fewer problems.
Microsoft reproduces its mistakes of the past
When the firm launched its new news and widgets module in the Windows 10 taskbar, it was also triggered by default on mouse over. Faced with the outcry that this had caused on the side of users, the Redmond firm had to resolve to integrate a new option in the Settings so that its widgets only trigger after clicking on them. Microsoft obviously did not learn the lesson and reproduced, once again, the same errors of the past.
If the Redmond company does not rectify the situation, deploys Discover as is in the stable version of Edge, annoyed users may go to see if the grass is greener elsewhere. There is no doubt that competitors such as Firefox, Opera or Vivaldi, more permissive than Edge, will be happy to welcome newcomers.
Neowin
