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An outcry has broken out over news that Windows 11, which is due to launch for PC owners worldwide before the end of the year, will make it tougher to use web browsers other than Microsoft’s own option, Edge.
Microsoft Edge is the default browser in Windows 10, replacing the older Internet Explorer. It’s built on the same open-source code that fuels Google Chrome – the most popular browser on the planet – and will continue to be the default option in Windows 11.
If you’ve just bought a Windows PC, it’s most likely what you’ll see when you search the web for the first time. At the moment, you can fairly easily switch over your default browser to another one of your choice, such as Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome or Opera.
Once this change is made, every time you open a web page, HTML file or other link, your PC will remember this choice.
However, the upcoming Windows 11 will make this process much, much more involved. What’s changed? The first time you install a new browser in Windows 11, you’ll be prompted to set it as your default choice by clicking “always use this app”.
But if you don’t spot the pop-up this time, you’ll never be asked again.
As well as this, every time you open a new file type in your web browser, like HTML, PDF, HTTP and HTTPS, you’ll have to make the selection again. The new widgets area, which is a core feature of the new OS, will also ignore browser default settings, meaning you’ll have to update them again here too. This makes it all much easier to just stick with Edge – exactly as Microsoft wants.
READ MORE: Time-saving new Chrome feature could break your PC, Google warns
Rival browser makers are understandably furious. Firefox told The Verge it was “increasingly worried” about the “additional and unnecessary steps”. It added: “These barriers are confusing at best and seem designed to undermine a user’s choice for a non-Microsoft browser.”
Opera said: “Microsoft has a history of doing this, and it seems they are getting progressively worse… They understand that the only way they can get people to use their browsers is to lock them in.”
Edge is considered to be a good browser and a massive improvement on Internet Explorer. However, many are annoyed that Microsoft is taking away choices from customers. Being forced to use Edge can be irritating if you have settings, saved passwords, or bookmarks on another browser you’d like to keep using.
But some think it’s not a bad move, with one Twitter user writing: “This is actually 100x better … Sure Microsoft could make a better UX alternative for covering lots of options at once. But this fine grain control is what a lot of users are looking for.”
Another added: “There’s very little reason to use Chrome over Edge at this point. Same code base, but Edge’s integration into Windows is unmatched.”
Microsoft previously faced backlash over bundling Internet Explorer with Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7. An 2010 EU ruling forced it to give users the option to select other browsers, to stop it having an unfair advantage.
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