Odd behaviour by MS Edge. If I open a new window/tab when the Internet is off I get a fairly clean, neutral page where searches (once Internet is turned back on) go to DDG as desired. If I open a window/tab when I'm online it sucks a MS search/portal thingy (which I've made as clean as I can) from the net….though searches do go to DDG. I know the portal thingy is a web site because it takes a moment to load and sometimes you can see the U.R.L. on the tab for a split second.
Am I making too much of the forced visitation? Why can't I have a blank/neutral new tab?