Microsoft has made it more difficult to switch the default browser in Windows 11, and now the company has further blocked apps like EdgeDeflector. Third-party apps like EdgeDeflector and even Firefox have given Microsoft a workaround to force people to use Edge in Start menu search results, even if their default browser isn't Edge.
Microsoft has been forcing Windows 10 and Windows 11 users to use Edge and its Bing search engine in Start menu search results, and now it's using a new gadget panel in Windows 11. This is the frustrating part of windows systems that won't respect your default browser choices when running components and programs they think are internal. EdgeDeflector lets you bypass these restrictions and open Start menu search results in the default browser of your choice.
Last week, EdgeDeflector first appeared in an early preview version of Windows 11, but Microsoft has decided to prevent app developers from calling microsoft-edge protocol links, and is now limited to the Edge browser.
"Windows publicly enables applications and services on its platform, including various web browsers," a Microsoft spokesperson said in a statement. At the same time, Microsoft also provides some end-to-end customer experience in Windows 10 and Windows 11, and the search experience from the taskbar is an example of an end-to-end experience that is not designed to redirect users to their own environment. When we realize that the redirect is incorrect, we will release a fix."
This "fix" is now part of the upcoming Windows 11 update, which arrived late Friday for Beta and Release Preview users, and the developers of EdgeDeflector aren't happy with Microsoft's changes. "These are not the actions of a careful company that cares about its products anymore," Daniel Aleksandersen, developer of EdgeDeflector, said in a critical blog post last week. "Microsoft is not a good steward of the Windows operating system. They're prioritizing advertising, bundles, and service subscriptions over the productivity of their users."
Microsoft didn't explain why it suddenly started blocking EdgeDeflector and other apps, but it knew exactly why. "500,000 EdgeDeflector users may have been just a nuisance to Microsoft," Aleksandersen explains. "Last month, however, Brave and Firefox web browsers either copied EdgeDeflector's functionality or signaled it on the roadmap."
The Firefox browser has 200 million users, so this is likely to catch Microsoft's attention and cause them to patch this workaround. Mozilla is also not impressed with Microsoft's blockade here.
"People deserve a choice. They should have the ability to set defaults simply and easily, and their choice of default browser should be respected," a Mozilla spokesperson said in a statement. "We've developed code to launch Firefox for users who have already chosen Firefox as their default browser when using the Microsoft-edge protocol. After the recent changes to Windows 11, the implementation of this plan will no longer be possible."
Mozilla previously implemented its own workaround, which quickly and easily set Firefox as the default browser for Windows 10 and Windows 11 with just one click. This is a feature that only exists in microsoft Edge browsers. Mozilla's workaround is only available from the version of Firefox downloaded online, but if you download Firefox from the Microsoft Store, then the workaround for the default browser is gone.
"Firefox browser offers an MSIX package in the Windows Store, so our users on Windows 10 and Windows 11 are able to download Firefox browsers from the store," a Mozilla spokesperson explained. "MsIX packages run in the 'Windows Package Environment'. When users choose Firefox as their default browser, aspects of the Windows environment on which the Firefox browser depends will not work in the MSIX environment. "
Microsoft's changes were crude, especially the changes to Windows 11, making it harder for people to switch the default browser in the first place. It's an aggressive tactic that reminds me of the ugly antitrust battle that bundled IE browsers in Windows. Microsoft also faced multiple fines in Europe for its anti-competitive Internet Explorer bundle, including a hefty $730 million fine for violating a 2009 antitrust agreement.
Microsoft forces people to use Edge and ignore browser defaults in Windows, and the strangest thing is that Microsoft Edge is a browser that users think of as a browser that isn't bad, and maybe they don't need to promote it in this seemingly violent way.