Is Microsoft Acting Illegally By Forcing Us To Use Edge
Keep in mind that this isn’t happening in the Windows 11 public release
The tech community is going nuts. Microsoft is blocking a workaround in Windows 11 that allows you to change your default browser from Edge to whatever browser you prefer.
Well this isn’t totally true. Let’s sit down, take a deep breath, and think about it for a moment.
So what’s all the fuss about
First of all, this only involves “some” links where Edge will open instead of your assigned default browser. Secondly, this behavior is only implemented in the Windows Insider Dev program, not in the publicly released version of Windows 11.
The behavior that has raised the ire of so many is a result of the use of a proprietary Microsoft Edge protocol heading in the link, “microsoft-edge://”, which forces the use of Edge over the user defined default browser.
Unless Microsoft can justify this behavior to the satisfaction of their users, it should never see the light of day in the public release. My guess is that with all the backlash they are receiving so far, they’re likely to reverse course on this before the general public ever sees it.
