Should you sign in to your browser of choice or use it without linked account? Signing in offers some advantages, notable the syncing of some data, such as passwords or the browsing history, between devices.
However, depending on the browser that you use, it may also provide the company in charge of it with additional information.
Many browsers limits the feature to the account of the organization that produces it. If you use Google Chrome, you can only sign in with a Google account. Firefox users may sign in with a Mozilla account, and Microsoft Edge users, at least until very recently, needed a Microsoft account.
This is changing with the release of Microsoft Edge 150. Microsoft notes the following in the release notes:
Sign in to Edge with a Google account. Users can now sign in to Microsoft Edge using a Google account in addition to a Microsoft account from the profile menu and Edge sign-in screen. Available for Windows and macOS devices. Admins can control availability of this feature using the NonMicrosoftAccountSignInEnabled policy. Note: This is a controlled feature rollout. If you don’t see this feature, check back as we continue our rollout.
So, instead of signing in with a Microsoft account, you can now sign in with a Google account. This comes with advantages, such as access to Google-stored passwords and such.
Whether that move will convince more users to give Edge a try on Windows or Mac remains to be seen. I have my doubts, but it does give Edge users more options when it comes to the company that they trust their data with.
Edge 150 is also the last version to support macOS 12, according to the release notes. Starting with Edge 151, macOS 13 is the minimum required version.
Give M$ my google account info? /roflmao
I do actually use google a lot these days so I found a way to keep it in a sandbox, away from the rest of my web browsing by creating and using a seperate firefox profile.
I use this shortcut to open Firefox with that profile and can stay logged into google in only that profile without giving them access to any data from other sites I visit while not using that profile.
“C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe” -no-remote -P Google https://google.com/
Note: I use this primarly for Gemini which is really great for entertainment but horrible with facts.
“Sign in to Edge with a Google account. Users can now sign in to Microsoft Edge using a Google account in addition to a Microsoft account from the profile menu and Edge sign-in screen.”
There’s some odd reasoning in the article–if one signs in with a MS account, then MS does the data harvesting; if one signs in with a Google account, then Google benefits by harvesting one’s browsing behavior for both Chrome and Edge.
Presumably, there’s some type of collusion going on between the two, now partners in web browser data harvesting. I rather doubt MS is “giving” free user data to Google.
For one I never open an account with credentials of another domain (many propose Google and Facebook). And this not a personal principle, many privacy related articles advise to avoid doing so; moreover, besides easiness what advantages? Disadvantages are obvious.
For two, I will never open an account to use a browser.
For three, allowing cross-site data exchange between two of the major privacy intruders, Microsoft and Google, is above my understanding.
This said, no doubt signing in to Microsoft Edge with a Google account will have its aficionados, those who no longer care about their privacy — if they ever have — or are totally unconscious about the implications.
Edge. I use Edge as a 3rd backup browser for various reasons, but when I updated it today it decided that I needed to have the Edge game bar widget installed on my PC without my permission. This was done despite the fact that I have widgets completely disabled in the Microsoft group policy editor. Microsoft simply has no shame at all about being dishonest with it user base when it comes to their marketing. So that is it, I am officially done with Edge.