It appears that Microsoft doesn’t want people’s preferred browser to be anything else but Edge with the upcoming Windows 11 OS. Reports are coming in that the company will purposely make the act of setting its default browser to anything but Edge more difficult.
According to The Verge, Microsoft has changed the way its system prompts users whenever they are switching default apps. Like Windows 10, a prompt will appear whenever you install your new browser – Chrome, Firefox, Opera, you name it – asking which app or browser you want to make your default choice. With Windows 11, users will need to tick the “Always use this app” box located at the bottom of the prompt.
Fail to tick the box when setting your default browser, though, and consumers will then have to navigate what can only be described as a convoluted set of procedures. Rather than a simple prompt from even rival browsers, users will now have to manually set the default browser for each file and link type. In the case of The Verge, this meant that the writer had no choice but to change the default file type for HTM, HTML, PDF, SHTML, SVG, WEBP, XHT, XHTML, FTP, HTTP, and HTTPS.
Needless to say, Microsoft’s actions have not gone unnoticed by the community and the major browser players have expressed their dissatisfaction over the company’s action, with several of them pointing out the irony that this is coming from a company that has claimed several times in the past, that it is one of the most open platforms on the market, with the “most choice.
At this point, it’s still not clear if Microsoft will heed the voices of its consumers and backtrack on this implementation. After all, force-feeding someone a browser they do not like could ultimately have a reaction that is contrary to its intended effect.
(Source: The Verge)
