By Randy Hall
Analysts who have been following the development of Windows 11 generally have good things to say about the redesign of the interface. There is one aspect of the new OS that's been raising hackles and causing analysts to sound alarm bells. That has to do with the new software's browser controls.
Microsoft faced a chorus of accusations of unfair competition from web browser competitors when recent Windows 10 updates made Microsoft Edge the machine's default browser. That was even in cases where users had previously selected some other browser to serve as their default.
If rival browser companies didn't like that move they're going to be absolutely furious about Windows 11. The new version of Windows makes it even more difficult to change the default browser away from Microsoft Edge.
Tom Warren of the Verge discovered that in order to set Chrome or some other browser as default, there are are quite a few steps. Users would have to check boxes identifying Chrome or the browser of the user's choice for every type of link (HTM, HTML, PDF< SHTML, XHTML, FTP, HTTP, HTTPS, etc.).
In other words there is no single box you can check to set a default browser and its absence may confuse a certain percentage of users. Users will wind up using Edge whether they want to or not simply because they find it too confusing to switch to something else.
After a user selects some other browser as default by clicking the requisite check boxes they'll get one additional plea from the company asking them to "Try Microsoft Edge - It's fast, secure, and built for Windows 11."
Microsoft explains that the presence of multiple check boxes give users more fine-grained control over what browser they want to use. While that may be the case competitors see it as a heavy-handed means of ensuring that more users wind up staying with Edge. That's even if they don't really want to.
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