I don't know if that's the case. I'm a Firefox user but consider all the 3rd party apps nearly as much malware as the things they are trying to solve. I run strictly defender and try to make good choices when downloading and browsing.
I actually replace Defender with a 3rd party choice (Eset) for this very same reason - to wrestle some control over my OS from Microsoft. I find Defender to be overbearing in so many ways.
well, if we're taking strictly subjective personal experiences as some sort of a relevant benchmark, then I'm a Windows Firefox user that has never used MS defender for any length of time, and always strictly a reliable low-impact 3rd party AV like ESET or Emsisoft. so I guess the two of us cancel each other out.
