Currently, in Windows 11, links contained in Windows system components, like, say, in the Settings application, are always opened in Edge, completely disregarding your default browser setting. Well, thanks to the European Union’s new Digital Services Act, this is going to change – but only for users in the European Economic Area. The latest Insider Preview changelog states:
In the European Economic Area (EEA), Windows system components use the default browser to open links.
It’s remarkable how quickly things can change when the full might of the EU’s and member states’ legal systems can come bearing down on you if you don’t comply. We’re already seeing the first few signs of users in the EU getting a better experience than users elsewhere.
“How is this still a thing”?
Microsoft Windows is large enough to have some restrictions placed on it. Not too much, but at least giving people choice for a browser should be one of them. (Didn’t they have a DoJ case on Netscape)?
Anyway, I can see some legitimate cases to use a system browser, like rendering help pages, or logging onto captive portals, where you want minimal obstructions. But even then instead of Edge, where user might have installed content blockers, a simple “HTML View” would be the better option.
Coming back, yes, Microsoft is definitely at fault here. And let’s not do “whataboutism” (really, what about Chrome OS)?
Thom Holwerda,
Microsoft are taking the position that it’s fair game if it’s not illegal in your region. Microsoft aren’t the only tech company fighting EU regulations. The EU has been a thorn to all the major tech companies whether it’s unauthorized user data harvesting, ad/spamming practices, disregarding their browser selection etc.
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/02/07/meta-threatens-to-shut-down-facebook-and-instagram-in-europe.html
They’ve even ruled on standardizing connectors…
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/oct/26/iphone-usb-c-lightning-connectors-apple-eu-rules
I believe the EU have helped bring about positive impacts for users world wide, pushing consumer rights where others will not. But this may change for the worse if the companies increasingly decide to respond by giving customers different features, rights, privacy, etc depending on their regions. I can see this region fragmentation becoming much more normalized going forward such that where we live will have a greater impact on the technology we use.
I would very much like to see rival web browser makers override Microsoft’s override. And while we’re at it, people should redesign their websites to explicitly refuse service to Edge users and tell them to get a better browser, not necessarily recommending any particular one.
kbd,
Revenge might sound good, but in practical terms that kind of strategy would fail because microsoft will win any arms race on windows since they hold the master key. For example they could pull an apple and simply block alternatives if they wanted to. Although obviously they have to tread lightly enough not to awaken the antitrust beast.
I have been speaking out against browser discrimination for a long time. We should be critical of microsoft’s ethics violations, but internet fragmentation is not the answer. There should be legal penalties for what MS are doing. But I concede that they may get off scott free, in which case does that justify hypocrisy? It’s a tough question to answer when doing the right thing gives the bad guys the upper hand.
If Microsoft were to tip their hand and escalate things further by e.g. blocking web browsers from being installed because the web browsers are sticking up for the end user by enforcing and adhering to the user’s choice, Microsoft would only be inviting more scrutiny of themselves, especially because Microsoft are not allowed to engage in this behavior across the pond.
And I think excluding Edge from websites is a wonderful idea. If I ran one I would do it right now. If Microsoft had learned from their past behavior and were competing fairly, I might feel differently, but over the years I’ve come to the realization that the best way to deal with sociopaths is to simply become one myself. We don’t owe Microsoft anything; if anything, they owe us.
The Edge browser is not big yet, the Internet community could easily sink it. And the world would be a better place. Hint: if Microsoft are behaving this way already, imagine how they will behave if they achieve dominance again.
kbd,
Good luck with that. That would require every http server to add new filters per user agent.
Given 95% of people will chose defaults, including web site admins, this would be a very small protest. And large enough companies will definitely won’t be on board, making it even less effective.
I think there are better ways to make sure Microsoft behaves, and this should not include punishing users.
Sorry about the aggressive tone. Even though I still dislike the idea, should have written the response in a more polite manner
You are of course right that 80% of the Internet today is the corp-o-web (Facebook, Youtube, Reddit…), and unlike the 1990s, when sites were mostly hosted by individuals, the big corporations are not about to punish Microsoft by excluding their browser. Half of them are running ads for Microsoft products!
I guess our best hope at this point is that Microsoft continues to tarnish and trash their own reputation, driving away users and techies alike from Edge.
That they are going through the extra effort to create a flag to create 2 kinds of behaviors – that takes engineering effort and a lot of QA testing… In other words, they are spending to do this, rather than just having those links open the same everywhere.
I ask this frequently – why does anyone still use Windows?
Why use Windows?
1. Work / school requires it
2. Inertia
3. Your favorite software / game / hardware is only supported on that platform
4. Except for these shenanigans, the underlying operating system is actually good. (hints on removing bloat: https://pureinfotech.com/debloat-windows-11/, or just use “English (World)”)
(To be clear I have not used windows as much recently as a few years ago)
sukru,
I basically use it when I need to work for clients who have windows environments. which is still a majority of them for me.
I have gripes with MS making some really poor decisions for the OS, but I concede my OS of choice has faults too. All in all I think windows is a decent operating system, but it’s getting dragged in the dirt right now by microsoft. I’ve been seeing ads inside microsoft applications, like office and teams, but just today microsoft popped up an ad in the middle of my workflow while I was using other non MS applications. It wouldn’t disappear until I clicked it. I wonder if microsoft has any heuristics to prevent windows ads from showing during movies and games?
Ugh, what a way to ruin an operating system, and the enterprise versions no less.
I had already disabled as much telemetry and unwanted services as I could using 3rd party debloaters, but it appears that microsoft are pushing new ad daemons through windows update. At this rate windows itself is going to need a dedicated ad blocker with auto updating lists to block microsoft ads in windows.
Osnews: can we get “edit” back?
Edit:
Actually it would be quite interesting if off the shell malware detecting software (ie malwarebytes) started adding microsoft’s adware to their signature database. It objectively fits the criteria, the only difference is that it comes from microsoft instead of a 3rd party. IMHO it would be appropriate to flag microsoft adware as malware too.
Trouble is, microsoft would be in a very strong position to make it impossible to clean if they implemented their ad functionality in critical system files that cannot be quarantined.
110% agree, I mostly use my phone or tablet to start a comment and if I have anything important to say I then follow that up with a full keyboard somewhere.
Also I use the post button like a draft, getting the bones down quickly then going over in the edit to fix things up, I’ll never be able to change that habit.
I like this idea almost as much as I like mine about sites rejecting Edge users. Yes, antivirus software filtering out and blocking all of Microsoft’s ad/nag screens would be a wonderful thing. Ideally they would make Windows as “quiet” as Windows 95, where it’s just the user and their data. No ads on the lock screen or task bar, and no gross/horrific news stories in the start menu, solely there to drive people to engage with Bing.
But I still think I like my Linux computer better, where the CPU cycles exist to serve me and nobody else. If I want something from the net I’ll open up a web browser and get it myself.
If this was genuinely an open choice I’d be more excited by the options, but the reality is this is just MS vs Google. and the others are either mostly trivial, invisible or do not matter to the masses.
More heresy follows. Oddly, in recent times I’ve found Edge to be greatly improved, so much so it’s now displaced Firefox as the default in many of the commercial setups I use. Only yesterday I had to “reset” a bunch of end user machines that had been moved off Edge to Chrome only to stop functioning for a critical task, I’m not really interested in why Chrome failed where Edge was working, and I do not have time to do that job for an organisation like Google. They are big organisations that live and die by the sword, if you want to be everything to everybody they better make they actually can!