For years Microsoft has desperately tried to nobble Chrome browser downloads, now with the launch of Windows 11 a new battle is emerging with the big software Company desperate to get users of their OS to use their questionable Edge browser,
Windows 11, which is due to launch worldwide before the end of the year, will make it tougher to use web browsers other than Microsoft’s own option, Edge and this has Chrome users up in arms with some telling ChannelNews that they will switch to a Chromebook over a Windows 11 notebook.
Also in Microsoft’s firing line is Mozilla Firefox, and Opera browsers.
How Microsoft will try to get you is 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.
In addition, you will also have to put up with prompts every time you open a new file type in your web browser, like HTML, PDF, HTTP and HTTPS, forcing users to make the selection again and again and again to the point that using Chrome will become one big irritant.
The move could even raise questions as to whether Microsoft is operating in a monopolistic manner a move that could attract the attention of the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission.
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. T
his makes it all much easier to just stick with Edge – exactly as Microsoft wants.
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. A 2010 EU ruling forced it to give users the option to select other browsers, to stop it having an unfair advantage.
antage.
