Microsoft’s upcoming operating system is about to make it even harder to switch default browsers and ignores browser defaults in new areas of the operating system.
But while the Redmond tech giant is making many positive changes to the Windows 11 UI, the default apps experience is a step back and browser competitors such as Mozilla, Opera, and Vivaldi are concerned.
Microsoft makes it hard to change between browsersIn Windows 11, Microsoft has changed the way you set default apps.
We all know that on Windows 10, there’s a prompt that appears when you install a new browser and open a web link for the first time, asking you if you want to make it your default one.
Unless you tick always use this app, the default won’t be changed.
And it is extremely easy to forget to toggle the always use this app option, and simply launch the browser you want from this prompt and never see this default choice again when you click web links.
If by chance you forget to set your default browser at first launch, the experience for switching defaults is now very confusing compared to the previous OS.
Chrome and many browsers will often prompt users to set them as default and will guide them into the default apps part of settings to enable this.
Changing the default browser on Windows 11 is tricky for someMany see this as an unnecessarily long process compared to Windows 10, which allows you to quickly and easily switch default email, maps, music, photos, videos, and web browser apps.
Out of Firefox, Chrome, Opera, Vivaldi, and Brave, only Firefox was able to set defaults without sending users to the default apps section of Windows 11.
Either way, the other companies that design vital apps, are not really impressed about what the Redmond giant plans to do with the upcoming OS.
Competitors are disappointed with how Microsoft limits user choicesEver since Windows 10, users always had to take additional and unnecessary steps to set and retain their default browser settings.
These barriers are confusing at best and seem designed to undermine a user’s choice for a non-Microsoft browser.
Most of the companies that are behind all the other poplar broesers are not agreeing with Microsoft’s strategy at all, and none have kind words for the tech giant.
And default app choices aren’t the only issues affecting browsers in Windows 11, either. The redmond company has been ignoring default browser choices in its search experience in Windows 10.
So what did Microsoft do? They introduced a taskbar widget that also ignored a default browser and forced users into Edge.
People want to be free and their choices not to be influenced, but Windows 11 continues this trend, with search still pushing users into Edge’s arms, and now a new dedicated widgets area that also ignores the default browser setting.
Microsoft denies pushing users in a certain directionRedmond officials justify these changes as allowing Windows users to have more control over default apps.
With Windows 11, we are implementing customer feedback to customize and control defaults at a more granular level, eliminating app categories and elevating all apps to the forefront of the defaults experience. As evidenced by this change, we’re constantly listening and learning, and welcome customer feedback that helps shape Windows. Windows 11 will continue to evolve over time; if we learn from a user experience that there are ways to make improvements, we will do so.
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