Rivals furious at Windows 11 for making it tough for users to switch default browsers

Microsoft’s Windows 11 is expected to roll out soon and the new OS is going to bring in a host of changes and upgrades. One of the features that Microsoft has added to Windows 11 is that it has changed the way default apps are assigned on the new operating system making it very difficult for users to switch default browsers if they miss the first and only prompt. This has ticked off companies like Google, Opera, and Mozilla Firefox. According to a report in The Verge, on Windows 11 if you forget to set your default browser to one of your choice at the first launch of Windows 11, the procedure to do so later is very confusing as compared to what it was on Windows 10.

The default app prompt on Windows 11 is something you only see one, the report mentions and this appears when you install a new browser and open a web link for the first time on the OS. This is the only opportunity for the user to easily switch browsers on Windows 11. If you miss this, you will be asked to set defaults by file or link type instead of a single switch.

"Chrome and many other rival browsers will often prompt users to set them as default and will throw Windows users into the default apps part of settings to enable this," The Verge pointed out. Microsoft's main idea behind something like this is, obviously, to keep users on its own browser and not let them pick another one and set it as default. And understandably, the likes of Google, Mozilla Firefox, and Opera are not pleased by this feature.

"We have been increasingly worried about the trend on Windows. Since Windows 10, users have had to take additional and unnecessary steps to set and retain their default browser settings. These barriers are confusing at best and seem designed to undermine a user's choice for a non-Microsoft browser," Selena Deckelmann, senior vice president of Firefox, told The Verge.

“This from the company that claims to be the most open, with 'the most choice',” said Hiroshi Lockheimer, Google's head of Android, Chrome and Chrome OS. "I hope this is just a developer preview thing, and the shipping version of Windows 11 lives up to their claims. This is far from 'choice,'" he added.

Opera said that it’s very “unfortunate when a platform vendor is obscurifying a common use case to improve the standing of their own product".

Microsoft has not commented on any of this yet. The company is currently testing its new Office UI which has been designed to complement Windows 11 and sports the same rounded corners along with other subtle changes. The main new features here include a rounded look to the Office ribbon bar and tweaks to some of the buttons on Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and Outlook.