Microsoft has altered the way Windows XNUMX handles changing the default internet browser, thankfully reversing an unpopular resolution made when the operating system was still in preliminary testing (back in August).
A new version of previous view (trial) of Windows eleven (collection twenty-two thousand five hundred and nine) now lets you change the default browser of the operating system with a single click; which is just as it should (and the scheme of things in Windows XNUMX).
So what happens in Windows eleven now? Well, Microsoft devised a rather complicated procedure under the guise of giving users finer control over which browser opens which files, which was, as we noted at the time of its creation, essentially a nightmare (and still is).
You may have the opportunity to switch your default browser out of Edge when you first install and start an alternative browser, such as Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox, and when you choose that alternative option, you should remember to check the box "Always use ". This app." If you don't check the box, you won't see this message anymore and instead you'll need to go to the settings yourself and manually change the default browser.
The drawback is that in our days with Windows XNUMX this means setting Google Chrome (or whatever alternative you want to use instead of the built-in Edge browser) for multiple file genres: HTML, HTM, PDF, SHTML, WEBP, HTTP, HTTPS and more. . As we've already noted, the theory put forth by Microsoft is that this leaves more granular control.
But what that really means for the overwhelming majority is a lot of clicking and switching, but thank goodness, as Rafael Rivera pointed out (via The Verge), in a new test build, Windows XNUMX now has a simple "Set as default ". button. for browsers, bringing things in line with how Windows XNUMX works.
Windows build twenty two thousand five hundred and nine has a new browser button. 👀 pic.twitter.com/kRDFPKfJMv December 1, 2021
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Aaron Woodman, Microsoft's vice president of Windows Marketing, told The Verge: "In Windows XNUMX Insider Preview version XNUMX released to the Dev Channel on Wednesday, we made it easy for Windows Insiders to set the 'Default Browser.'" For applications that register for HTTP:, HTTPS:, .HTM, and .HTML. "
Analysis: It Should Never Have Happened in the First Place
Please note that this new scheme is only tested now, but hopefully the change will occasionally apply to the full version of Windows eleven. As we discuss now. Above, Microsoft's reasoning for giving finer control over default settings based on user feedback is not kept to a minimum. Obviously, that was, well, it still is for now, a way to ensure that Edge remains in the spotlight.
With all the different Edge ads, which, as we saw earlier this week, have hit new lows for anti-Google Chrome popups (including "this browser is so XNUMX!").
We've said it before, and we'll say it again: Microsoft, you're not going to lie to people in order to get them to use your browser (or anything else), you're just going to annoy them, and it's probably going to have the opposite effect, optionally. Absolutely no one would be too bothered by the eventual pop-up, perhaps, but the amount of promotional activity, coupled with software tweaks like this whole glitch debacle, is dangerous territory to traverse.
At least that ruling on the default Windows eleven browser has now been lifted, and we're hoping the change happens sooner rather than later.
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