For the past several months I’ve noticed something odd about LinkedIn. When I try to create a post from Firefox, it won’t load the Create Post dialog box. If I do so from Microsoft Edge, it works fine. When I tried Chrome, it took a long time to load the Create Post form with two distinct waiting periods. Only Microsoft Edge worked perfectly and quickly. The upshot is that I am prevented from posting from my preferred browser and have to use the… um… Microsoft one.
There are a few scenarios that come to mind that explain this behavior.
1. There is a bug in the LinkedIn code. This is plausible, Perhaps different implementations of the Typescript or Javascript engine are yielding different results. This would be a QA fail on the part of Microsoft. That’s kind of hard to believe given their level of Microsoft developer sophistication. It’s especially hard to believe considering this is a primary function of LinkedIn.
2. This was expected though unwanted. Microsoft is pushing the boundaries of one of the aforementioned engines and is accepting that there will be glitches until rivals update their own engines. They are accepting disruption as the price of innovation. What makes this less than plausible is that this is a rather simple function. There’s not a lot of innovation in the Create Post box.
3. This is purposeful. Microsoft wants people to use Edge and is coding in such a way that certain functions fail in other browsers. Perhaps, rather than coding for failure, they are just accepting bugs more in other browsers. Either way, the result is the same. Given Microsoft’s history this is possible.
4. This is nefarious. Reports in the tech news suggest that Microsoft is trying to get Firefox to adopt Bing as the default engine. This might be a pressure tactic. There are already parts of Microsoft Office 365 that won’t work on Firefox. Core Office online apps are fine, but the more business parts such as Power Automate and Teams either don’t work well or at all. It’s not hard to wonder if this is a strategy.
It’s hard to think this is just bad code. Microsoft is not capable of that level of incompetence. Given that Firefox is the default engine in a number of Linux distributions and that Linux is important to developers, and developers are important to Microsoft, it would seem like bugs of this nature would be squashed almost immediately. That makes it seem more plausible that Microsoft wants to either encourage the Mozilla Foundation to use Bing as the default search engine, thereby making these issues more urgent for Microsoft, or are undermining Firefox to drive adoption of Microsoft Edge on both Windows, where it is not just the default but deeply integrated, and Linux, where it is now available as a stable release. Both are equally possible.
While Microsoft is no stranger to hardball tactics, it seems self-defeating. They risk aggravating a number of constituents and attracting the attention of government regulators. The latter is like a hobbit trying to attract the Eye of Sauron; There is a multitude of reasons for never wanting that.
My opinion is that these incompatibilities are driven by a bit of all of the above. They put more testing resources into their own browser. To have core products fail on their own browser is deeply embarrassing. They are likely pushing some technical boundaries assuming rivals will catch up quick. The fact that some products work better on Edge than other browsers is a plus because it encourages people to use Edge for at least part of their day. Finally, while it is unlikely a stated goal, it’s hard to ignore that putting a little pressure on rivals is not a bad thing for Microsoft so long as it’s not so much that it attracts undue attention.
The future will tell. If a deal is announced with Mozilla and suddenly LinkedIn and Office 365 works perfectly with Firefox, we will know what this was likely about. If it persists even after the success or failure of the deal, the reasons will remain murky.
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