Tux Machines
Posted by Roy Schestowitz on Sep 29, 2022
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=> ↺ New Alpha Release: Tor Browser 12.0a3 (Android, Windows, macOS, Linux)
Tor Browser 12.0a3 updates Firefox on Android, Windows, macOS, and Linux to 102.3.0esr.
=> ↺ Mozilla: Apple, Google, and Microsoft lock you into their browsers
Mozilla researchers found each platform maker “wants to keep people within its walled garden” by steering mobile and desktop users to Apple Safari, Google Chrome, or Microsoft Edge. “All five major platforms today (Google, Apple, Meta, Amazon, Microsoft) bundle their respective browsers with their operating systems and set them as the operating system default in the prime home screen or dock position,” Mozilla wrote in a 66-page report.
Mozilla has published new research into how consumers across a number of different countries and continents install and use browsers. It shows the importance of web browsers to consumers, with the vast majority of people surveyed using them each day. It also shows that although many people report knowing how to install a browser in theory, lots of people never actually install an alternative browser in practice. A similar trend can be seen between the number of people reporting to know how to change their default browser versus the number who do this in practice. Crucially, people raise concerns about privacy and security, but they similarly fail to act on these concerns.
This report has two purposes: first, to present Mozilla’s research (both recent surveys and years of knowledge) into consumer interaction with browsers. Secondly, to highlight the foreclosure of browser engines and independent browsers by operating systems. Part 1 of the paper is about operating systems, browsers, browser engines and how consumers behave. Part 2 highlights the online choice architecture practices by operating system providers which we believe have shaped consumer browser usage away from independent browsers.
The research we are releasing with this report paints a complex picture with many paradoxes: people say they know how to change their browser, yet many never do. Many people believe they can choose their browser, yet they have a bias towards software which is pre-installed, set to default and difficult to change. In fact, their browser choice on desktop computers has been thwarted for many years, and it has never truly existed on mobile devices. Our research corroborates what many regulators have already noticed: software can be designed to influence or even manipulate consumer outcomes. And operating systems are designed to maximize usage of their affiliated browsers.
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