Skip to main content

Is Microsoft’s new PC cleaner just an Edge ad in disguise?

Microsoft really wants you to use the Edge browser, so much so that the company has tied it to PC optimization in a new settings app. Microsoft PC Manager does what you could always do by opening the settings menu, but the new app also prompts you to set Edge as your default browser.

Screenshots of the new app were posted on Twitter by @ALumia_Italia and appears to show what is a public beta of the app. The app performs basic maintenance functions. You can check startup apps, check for updates, run disk cleanup, and other minor optimizations.

The new PC Manager app on a Windows 11 desktop
ALumia_Italia

There are several prompts to Reset default browser to Edge within PC Manager. For example, a scary-sounding Potential Issues scan includes a check box to use Edge. The average non-techie user might just go for it.

Recommended Videos

Of course, we’ve got nothing against Microsoft Edge. It is a solid browser with a lot of tricks up its sleeve and is arguably the best browser to use for cloud gaming.

The PC Manager menu with a prompt to reset the default browser to Edge
image: @ALumia_Italia

But the way Microsoft tries to push Edge on us is unsettling. They make it ridiculously difficult to use another browser as a default on Windows 10 or Windows 11. They include desktop popups reminding you to use Edge. This new PC Manager app comes off as another nagging call to use the browser.

So is the Microsoft PC Manager a helpful app, or adware for Edge? After all, you could already do everything the app offers, and while it compiles a few different settings into one useful interface, do we really need to be reminded about Edge yet again?

Nathan Drescher
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Nathan Drescher is a freelance journalist and writer from Ottawa, Canada. He's been writing about technology from around the…
Microsoft Edge Canary new tab page replaces MSN with Copilot
Microsoft Edge appears on a computer screen with plants and a window in the background.

Microsoft is testing a new Copilot-powered interface in the Canary version of Edge, replacing the MSN feed on the New Tab Page in an attempt to streamline browsing, according to Windows Latest. Users can enable it via experimental flags.

If the new design rolls out to the stable version, Copilot will replace the familiar MSN feed as the first thing you see when you open a new tab. You'll see a compose box in an uncluttered design with a greeting message that asks, "How can I help you today?"

Read more
Windows 11 is getting a lot of new features, here’s how to check if your PC qualifies
Copilot+ PC laptop.

In a Windows Insider blog post, Microsoft announces some exciting new features coming to Windows 11, including Reading Coach integration, improved Voice Access, and AI-enhanced Search. These upgrades are part of preview build 26120.3872 in the Beta channel. However, some upcoming features will only be available on Copilot+ PCs, a new category of AI-powered devices that run on Snapdragon (ARM-based) chips.

Beyond the features highlighted in this preview, more Copilot+ features are already on the horizon. For example, Microsoft recently confirmed that Recall, which raised privacy concerns, is coming to Windows 11 in build 26100.3902 (KB5055627), now available in the Release Preview Channel. That means it's just one step away from general release and likely to arrive soon on eligible Copilot+ devices.

Read more
Microsoft’s Copilot Vision AI is now free to use in Edge
Copilot Vision graphic.

After months of teasers, previews, and select rollouts, Microsoft's Copilot Vision is now available to try for all Edge users in the U.S. The flashy new AI tool is designed to watch your screen as you browse so you can ask it various questions about what you're doing and get useful context-appropriate responses.

The feature works for "most" sites, according to Microsoft but it gives you a list of recommendations to start with. We have Amazon, which makes sense, but also Geoguessr? I'm pretty sure the point of that site is to try and guess where you are on the map without any help. Anyway, the full list of starter sites is as follows:

Read more