This is normally set to the default option of "install apps from anywhere", but when the Windows 10 Update arrives in October, it will be changed to "show me app recommendations". In a bid to claw back some much-needed market share, Microsoft is implementing a rather cheeky "feature" in its Edge browser.
As reported by The Verge, Microsoft has inserted these pop-ups in the latest Windows 10 test builds that are now available to Windows Insiders. A user who initiates the installation of a browser does so on objective. If you open Edge and search for "Chrome" or "Firefox" using Bing, Edge's default search engine, you'll be presented with a massive banner informing you that "Microsoft Edge is the faster, safer browser on Windows 10 and is already installed on your PC".
There's even a setting to turn annoying prompts like this off, and Microsoft is calling them "app recommendations". Word comes from beta testers of the update report the screenshot below pops up if you try and install a competing browser on your PC. This is definitely Microsoft trying to get users to Edge, but let us be reminded that Google already bothers you to switch to Chrome whenever you visit one of their entities using Edge or other browsers.
While Windows 10 only recommends Edge over other browsers right now, Microsoft could push more of its apps with these "recommendations".
While it seems that Microsoft plans to integrate an option to disable these "warnings", it remains to be seen how that will look like. In a statement to CNET, Microsoft referred to its Windows test programme, and said, "We're now testing this functionality with insiders only". Most Windows 10 users click through all these annoying prompts and use Chrome instead.
Microsoft has released Edge for Android and the browser has been well received by Android users.
I tried to install Chrome Stable and Firefox Stable, and both installations were intercepted by the prompt. So maybe you should make Edge a better browser instead of thinking up new ways to shove it in our faces.