Ads on the start menu and stuff like that is horrible, I agree, but it's a different issue than browser choice.
Microsoft disabled the API that let's you change the default browser because Chrome and Firefox kept doing that automatically when you clicked a button. Mozilla reverse engineered the new method of setting the browser but Microsoft then cried foul because you're not supposed to be able to set the default browser from within your preferred browser unless you're Edge.
And then with every major update you risk your browser preferences being reset because of "bugs". I've had Google set as my default search engine in Edge (to avoid the desperate ads from MS) but that got reset one update. The default browser got reset twice. Microsoft assures us that these were bugs and mistakes and that they didn't intend to change user settings, though.
I have a hard time believing any of it ever since the day I got an ad for their browser in my start menu.
Duckduckgo is the default search engine. If I want Bing for some reason, I have to actually type it in the address bar.
I haven't gotten any ads in the OS, and the only time it tried to get me to log into a Microsoft account was once when I was first installing the OS 7 years ago. I use LibreOffice, not MS 365, and no MS cloud storage and nothing is pressuring me to switch. Google Drive is there in the rare cases I want to use it, and I still have a login to Dropbox if I want that.
I also never enabled Cortana or web results mixed into my local search or any of that other nonsense.
There's a whole lot of misguided FUD about Windows in the tech crowd. People who you would assume would know well enough to check the options they want or don't want at the time they install the OS. Doesn't require a tech genius to do basic configuration. It's kind of baffling how many can't figure that out.
An argument could be reasonably made that the defaults should be different, and if you just clicked 'Yes' to everything, you should get a configuration like mine. But that would be a bad faith argument. It's reasonable to set the defaults to things that match the OS company and for features to be 'On' (otherwise people wouldn't know they were there).
MacOS is the same about that stuff. Many of the defaults (backwards scrolling and hidden scrollbars) are practically unusable from a UX standpoint. They also default you to their own proprietary office software, browser, and other weird stuff with confusing UI. The keyboard isn't configured correctly and consistently by default (totally gets the editing keys wrong). Just like Windows or Linux, you have to configure it and choose which parts you want or don't want.
Windows 10 definitely nags you about Edge from time to time. Some windows updates will re-trigger the "setup wizard" flow and ask you yet again to switch browsers & setup a microsoft account instead of using a local account. Or an Edge shortcut will just be quietly dropped on your desktop.
It's not super often, but it absolutely happens. That said, the real kicker is in Windows 11 where they removed the ability to change the default browser in a single spot. You're instead forced to change the app handler for every mimetype & extension, it's extremely tedious.
Really? Edge is the default option, they push you to make Edge the default if you are using Chrome or Firefox and every now and then they ask you to accept Microsoft's default Windows settings.
The show their MSN news by default, Bing is default, they show ads in the OS, they constantly ask you to log in to your Microsoft account, everything leads to MS 365 office products or MS cloud storage.
It's a horrible OS and I wonder how long this can fly by any anti-trust measures.