{"id":42369,"date":"2021-08-19T13:32:25","date_gmt":"2021-08-19T13:32:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/icloud.pe\/blog\/?guid=46f955d2e3e765f5761a1954bbd399d3"},"modified":"2021-08-19T13:32:25","modified_gmt":"2021-08-19T13:32:25","slug":"microsoft-accused-of-making-it-harder-to-ditch-edge-in-windows-11","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/icloud.pe\/blog\/microsoft-accused-of-making-it-harder-to-ditch-edge-in-windows-11\/","title":{"rendered":"Microsoft accused of making it harder to ditch Edge in Windows 11"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n Zach Marzouk<\/a><\/span>
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n
19 Aug, 2021<\/span><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Microsoft<\/a> has been accused of making it harder to switch default browsers in Windows 11<\/a>, prompting complaints from browser competitors like Firefox<\/a>\u00a0and Opera<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The tech giant has changed the way users can set default apps on its new operating system<\/a>, according to The Verge<\/em><\/a>. Similar to Windows 10<\/a>, a prompt appears when a user installs a new browser or opens a web link for the first time.<\/p>\n

The problem lies with a change in the way default browser apps are handled in Windows 11. Where Windows 10 allowed users to change default apps based on a program, Windows 11 requires users to set defaults by file or link type instead, much in the same way that PDFs<\/span> or image extensions are handled.<\/p>\n

For example, in Chrome,<\/a> this means individually changing the default behaviour for HTM<\/span>, HTML<\/a>, PDF, SHTML<\/span>, SVG<\/span>, WEBP<\/span>, XHT<\/span>, XHTML<\/span>, FTP, HTTP, and HTTPs<\/span>, with each having its own drop-down menu.<\/p>\n

Rival browsers tend to prompt users to set them as default, forcing them to navigate the default apps<\/a> part of settings to do this.<\/p>\n

Critics have argued that this creates unnecessary complications in what otherwise should be a simple process, causing many users to simply stick with Edge.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing able to select your preferred web browser is essential to shaping the internet<\/span> experience that everyone deserves,\u201d Selena Deckelmann<\/span>, senior vice president of Firefox said to IT Pro<\/em>. \u201dWe have been increasingly worried about the trend on Windows. Since Windows 10, users have had to take additional and unnecessary steps to set and retain their default browser<\/a> settings. These barriers are confusing at best and seem designed to undermine a user\u2019s choice for a non-Microsoft browser.\u201d<\/p>\n

Krystian<\/span> Kolondra<\/span>, Opera\u2019s EVP<\/span> and head of desktop\u00a0browsers, told IT Pro\u00a0<\/em>that it is \u201cunfortunate\u201d when a platform vendor is \u201cobscurifying<\/span> a common use case to improve the standing of their own product\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe would like to encourage all platform vendors to respect user choice and allow competition on their platforms. Taking away user choice is a step backwards,\u201d added Kolondra<\/span>.<\/p>\n

IT Pro<\/em> has contacted Google and Microsoft for comment. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Zach Marzouk<\/p>\n

19 Aug, 2021 <\/p>\n

Microsoft has been accused of making it harder to switch default browsers in Windows 11, prompting complaints from browser competitors like Firefox\u00a0and Opera.
\nThe tech giant has changed the way …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":654,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42369","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/icloud.pe\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42369","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/icloud.pe\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/icloud.pe\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/icloud.pe\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/654"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/icloud.pe\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42369"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/icloud.pe\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42369\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42370,"href":"https:\/\/icloud.pe\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42369\/revisions\/42370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/icloud.pe\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/icloud.pe\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/icloud.pe\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}