Uninstall option no longer available for the new version of Microsoft Edge

[P4-630]

Beginning with general availability of the new Microsoft Edge in January, Microsoft has migrated Windows customers from the legacy version of Microsoft Edge to the new version in a phased rollout. We want to ensure all Windows customers have the latest Microsoft Edge browser for the performance, privacy, security, productivity, and support features it offers.

The new version of Microsoft Edge gives users full control over importing personal data from the legacy version of Microsoft Edge. The new version of Microsoft Edge is included in a Windows system update, so the option to uninstall it or use the legacy version of Microsoft Edge will no longer be available.

If you need further assistance, please go to the Microsoft Edge support website or contact support.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4576988/can-t-uninstall-microsoft-edge

 

[CrAsHnBuRnXp]

Doesnt matter to me, I dont use it anyway.

 

[Bill_Bright]

No doubt a rash of whiny complaints will soon follow this news.

Doesnt matter to me, I dont use it anyway.

Which leads to my point. Windows makes it easy to use alternative browsers for those who don't want to use Edge.

 

[windwhirl]

I get to keep both apparently

This on Windows 10 build 20185 (insider)

 

[newtekie1]

Doesnt matter to me, I dont use it anyway.

Yep, I delete the shortcuts and move on with my life...for the most part.

The annoying thing to me is that certain Microsoft programs/apps refuse to respect the default browser selection and always open Edge. For example, if you are in your OneDrive folder on your computer and you right click a file and select "Show Online" it always opens in Edge regardless of what your default browser is set to. But, I guess it's a minor annoyance that most people never run into anyway.

I get to keep both apparently

View attachment 164883

This on Windows 10 build 20185 (insider)

Yes, the old Edge must remain on the computer for basically the same reason IE is still there. There are some things that require the old Edge, like the Windows Store or some Apps from it. I don't remember which it is, there was an article about it when the new Edge first started rolling out.

 

[CrAsHnBuRnXp]

I get to keep both apparently

View attachment 164883

This on Windows 10 build 20185 (insider)

What is that one to the right of the CMD prompt?

 

[windwhirl]

What is that one to the right of the CMD prompt?

Firefox Nightly.

 

[Bill_Bright]

I get to keep both apparently

Well, it says beginning in January...

 

[moproblems99]

No doubt a rash of whiny complaints will soon follow this news.

Or whiny defenders. If I don't want it, I should be able to uninstall it. It's my PC right?

 

[Bill_Bright]

It's my PC right?

No it's not. But it IS your right to not buy or use Windows. Remember, like ALL software, you don't own the software. You own a license to use the software in accordance with the license agreement you agreed to abide with when you decided to keep using it.

If you don't like the terms of the agreement, use Linux or something else. That is your right.

 

[moproblems99]

No it's not. But it IS your right to not buy or use Windows. Remember, like ALL software, you don't own the software. You own a license to use the software in accordance with the license agreement you agreed to abide with when you decided to keep using it.

If you don't like the terms of the agreement, use Linux or something else. That is your right.

Oh, it isn't my PC. Alright then, my mistake.

 

[jayseearr]

No doubt a rash of whiny complaints will soon follow this news.
Which leads to my point. Windows makes it easy to use alternative browsers for those who don't want to use Edge.

No doubt is right, do you see how you are kind of speaking out of both sides of your mouth? If it's not worthy of "whining" about, then why are you so sure people will "whine"
at the end of the day i use and will continue to use microsoft/windows but why remove such a basic yet fundamental feature and not expect pushback?

 

[Bill_Bright]

Oh, it isn't my PC. Alright then, my mistake.

Come on! You know what I meant. Yes, it is your hardware. But you don't own Windows.

No doubt is right, do you see how you are kind of speaking out of both sides of your mouth? If it's not worthy of "whining" about, then why are you so sure people will "whine"

LOL Really? I see you just joined this site - is this the first tech support forum you have visited?

There are Microsoft haters throughout this site and in the IT press who just love to pounce on and bash Microsoft for every move they make, good or bad - to the point where some even totally fabricate falsehoods! And that includes falsehoods about Edge.

So it is not about me speaking out of both sides, it is about me stating the obvious. Microsoft surely has done many things that deserve bashing, criticisms, and even perhaps, criminal investigations. But getting rid of the old, flakey, under-developed version of Edge is not one of those things. It never should have been released in the first place. And preventing the removal of the new Edge when it can easily be supplanted by 3rd party alternatives isn't either. Yet people will.

 

[AltCapwn]

Powershell ftw bois.

you can pretty much uninstall everything that isn't uninstallable. You can even f*ck your OS if you want to uninstall system components.

 

[jayseearr]

less options/choices is almost never a good thing. I'm well aware people love to bash microsoft and virtually every other company for no reason sometimes yes, but let's also not try to act like every issue that pops up that people don't agree with should just get thrown into that category either...

 

[Bill_Bright]

Powershell ftw bois

Good point. No doubt there will be some who will figure out and publish how to remove it.

but let's also not try to act like every issue that pops up that people don't agree with should just get thrown into that category either...

That would be great. But sadly, you are right, "people love to bash Microsoft". And frankly, I will defend their right to do so - when deserved.

Anyway, back on topic. The old Edge is being totally phased out. That's a very good thing.

 

[moproblems99]

Come on! You know what I meant. Yes, it is your hardware. But you don't own Windows.

Well, no. I wasn't sure. You quoted it's my PC and then said: No, it's not. Also, I believe the Gov already sued them once for this. Maybe they'll do it again.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Microsoft_Corp.

United States v. Microsoft Corporation, 253 F.3d 34 (D.C. Cir. 2001),[1] was a noted American antitrust law case in which the U.S. government accused Microsoft of illegally maintaining its monopoly position in the PC market primarily through the legal and technical restrictions it put on the abilities of PC manufacturers (OEMs) and users to uninstall Internet Explorer and use other programs such as Netscape and Java.

...

At trial, the district court ruled that Microsoft's actions constituted unlawful monopolization under Section 2 of the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit affirmed most of the district court's judgments.

 

[Bill_Bright]

I believe the Gov already sued them once for this. Maybe they'll do it again.

Those were different days and circumstances back then. Back then Microsoft really was trying to rule the world. Plus, If you read what you quoted, MS coded in restrictions and obstacles preventing system builders and end users from using alternative browsers. They also put terms in the OEM license agreements with OEM builders to block the use of alternatives if those builders wanted to buy Windows at greatly reduced volume license prices. The did the same with Office products to block the use of WordPerfect, for example. There are no such restrictions today.

At the same time, Microsoft wanted to put AV code in XP but Norton, McAfee and the others cried "Monopoly" claiming it was their job to rid the world of malware. But of course, we see how good a job they did there. And of course, who got blamed? Norton and McAfee? Nope. The bad guys? Not even them. Microsoft got blamed.

Notice how MS put antimalware code in Windows starting with W8, and now with W10 and Congress and the EU (as well as Norton and McAfee) have remained mum about it? That's because Congress and the EU got tunnel vision when they heard the word "monopoly" and then failed to protect us consumers while Norton and McAfee failed to protect our systems! They opened the doors to the bad guys take over - and they did. Of course, what incentive does Norton, McAfee and the others have to rid the world of malware? None for that will put them out of business. Something to think about there.

 

[Selaya]

There's actually a pretty damn good reason to make Edge uninstallable - there are a lot of (shitty) applications that are hard coded to use the default browser to run/display stuff (I can definitely remember shitty software that simply wouldn't run without iexplore.exe. Not sure about Edge, but I presume the rationale would be same/similar. Actually, doesn't 10 ship with iexplore.exe still, anyways? Because of Legacy, blah?)

 

[moproblems99]

Those were different days and circumstances back then. Back then Microsoft really was trying to rule the world.

illegally maintaining its monopoly position in the PC market primarily through the legal and technical restrictions it put on the abilities of PC manufacturers (OEMs) and users to uninstall Internet Explorer

The new version of Microsoft Edge is included in a Windows system update, so the option to uninstall it or use the legacy version of Microsoft Edge will no longer be available.

 

[kiriakost]

1) Uninstall option no longer available
2) Stop automated updates neither available from the beginning.

All those translates to me, that Microsoft thinks them self that half of your own computer and entire of your Internet activity belongs to them.
This is how I stuck with Firefox 56.0 (x64) , because even Firefox this is sold their soul to unknown powers, and they even did destroy the user interface and plug in compatibility too.
Firefox now wants to harvest all of your passwords in to his own server.
I am not tolerate such a bulling for either of those sides, which think them self as to be a decision maker and of me that I am a stupid sheep.

 

[Bill_Bright]

There are millions of users who are totally naïve about security, operating systems and computer hardware. And that's fine! A computer should be just as easy to use and keep safe as a toaster, home phone or any other household appliance. Those users could care less about which browser they use as long as they can check their bank accounts, read their Gmail, and update their Facebook page.

And despite what some believe and what they want others to believe, if those users leave the Windows defaults alone, odds are, they can do all this without problems for years to come.

But the bad guys are still out there, constantly seeking out and developing new ways to infect our computers and compromise our data. And one of the best ways to stop the bad guys is to keep Windows fully updated. If left to the defaults, Edge is needed for that. So it must be in there. But again, should the user decide they would rather use Chrome, FF, PM or something else, they can.

Here's how I think Microsoft sees it. They know they are going to get blamed by the Microsoft bashers no matter what. So they would rather get blamed for removing some flexibility from Windows than get blamed (again!) for letting the bad guys run roughshod over their users. As a former network manager for a large government network, I agree with that philosophy. If you allow users to dink with their systems, they will dink it to death, then yell and scream at you for how horrible the computer, Windows, and the sysadmins are.

@moproblems99 - I don't understand the point of your last post. You took only a portion of the pertinent data for your quotes. Back in 2001, MS inserted code to block OEM builders from installing alternative browsers. That was the big deal! And it was right that Microsoft got slapped for it!!

It is not a big deal today because users can easily use an alternative browser or browsers all they want. And they can even change the default browser to that alternative.

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
That I remember the uninstall option was not a live link, just a dead text so sort of useless like some other ms apps that can't be removed without kungfu skills.

Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers | where-object {$_.name –notlike '*store*'} | Remove-AppxPackage

 

[windwhirl]

There's actually a pretty damn good reason to make Edge uninstallable - there are a lot of (shitty) applications that are hard coded to use the default browser to run/display stuff (I can definitely remember shitty software that simply wouldn't run without iexplore.exe. Not sure about Edge, but I presume the rationale would be same/similar. Actually, doesn't 10 ship with iexplore.exe still, anyways? Because of Legacy, blah?)

Yep, still around even in the newest insider builds.

EDIT: Seeing as I have links to Age of Mythology and Age of Empires II launchers there, it is likely used by said launchers, which I just confirmed by launching Age of Mythology.

You can even f*ck your OS if you want to uninstall system components.

And that's why I'm sort of avoiding PowerShell, I feel like I'll type something wrong and fuck it up.

The old Edge is being totally phased out. That's a very good thing.

To be honest, I feel kinda sad about that. But I understand that Microsoft had their reasons to do away with EdgeHTML.

because even Firefox this is sold their soul to unknown powers

Wow, wait, stop! What the heck are you talking about?

Sold their souls to unknown powers? Whaaaat?

they even did destroy the user interface

The UI experience is subjective, so I won't make a comment on that.

and plug in compatibility too.

If you're talking about add-ons, I can kinda agree on that. I miss FlashGot, frankly. Again, the discussion around that lasted like two years before Mozilla decided to go ahead.

Firefox now wants to harvest all of your passwords in to his own server.

what? If you mean the Sync feature, people wanted it. And frankly, I'd rather trust Mozilla than, say, Google.

 

[Bill_Bright]

To be honest, I feel kinda sad about that.

The original Edge could have and would have been nice if they didn't rush it out the door in a clearly unfinished state. But the Microsoft execs wanted so badly to include it with W10, they made [another] lousy executive decision to push it out unfinished then fix it later. That was simply stupid. The initial version was extremely buggy, supported literally no add-ons or extensions, failed to render many sites properly - it was a mess. It's only virtue was that it was pretty quick.

All that fiasco did was give all the Microsoft haters and bashers another (but this time, genuine) reason to bash Microsoft. And it was so half-baked and unpolished, it even gave the Microsoft supporters and fanboys reason to bash Microsoft.

I heard through two reliable and independent sources at Microsoft that the Edge development team was opposed to releasing it with W10 because they knew (everybody at Microsoft knew! ) it was not ready to go - it was not even ready for Beta. They wanted to keep it in development just a couple more months until they could release a product they could be proud of.

But once again, the MS marketing weenies, backed by the MS execs overruled the developers and pushed it out anyway. But who got the blame? The developers, of course.

It got so much criticism that Microsoft was forced to abandon it completely and go with a Chromium based browser - one that would support the plethora of Chrome extensions and add-ons.

In the end, consumers have an excellent browser in the "new" Edge. But at what cost? Microsoft is first and foremost a software development company and because of the reckless haste by the company execs, the appearances are that they can't even do that!