Mozilla Firefox is the first web browser that makes it a lot easier to set itself as the default web browser in Windows 11. The browser has effectively defeated the cumbersome process Microsoft deployed to dissuade users from migrating.
Microsoft Windows 11 has some clever engineering to ensure users of the operating system stick to the default, integrated apps. Mozilla Firefox has reportedly defeated one of the methods.
Microsoft Windows 11 makes switching to different apps from the default ones very difficult, if not impossible:
Microsoft is notorious for deploying methods that make users jump through hoops to change the default web browser inside Windows operating system. The company once battled the European Union for the right to choose a default Internet web browser.
As reported previously, the battle got uglier with Windows 11. The process to choose “default” applications is quite cumbersome. It involves clicking Select and Confirm messages multiple times.
Watching this now and Tom just discovered that when you click on a news story in the new Windows 11 widgets it opens up Edge even if you have Chrome set as your default browser.
So: Microsoft still doing bad engagement hacks to promote its own browser and services. ಠ_ಠ https://t.co/PXU5SKUczf
— Dieter Bohn (@backlon) June 28, 2021
Needless to mention, Edge is the default web browser that Microsoft has baked inside Windows 11. As several users have reported, Microsoft is deploying some questionable tactics to ensure users stick to the default applications.
Instead of clicking ‘Set as default’, Microsoft makes users select, choose, and confirm the types of files an application will handle. A web browser currently handles HTM, HTML, PDF, SHTML, SVG, WEBP, XHT, XHTML, FTP, HTTP, and HTTPS.
Mozilla makes it easy to set Firefox as your default browser on Windows by bypassing Microsoft's security – https://t.co/CjJh4939yw pic.twitter.com/KtBQSC2hH2
— MSPoweruser (@mspoweruser) September 13, 2021
This means Windows 11 OS users must now select each file type individually and associate the same with another browser. Each change consists of: Click, select Chrome, confirm.
Simply put, just to set Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox as the default web browser, Windows 11 OS users have to click 33 times.
Mozilla Firefox successfully bypasses the cumbersome process Microsoft deployed inside Windows 11:
It is quite clear that Microsoft has deployed some simple but highly effective techniques to keep users from changing the default web browser in Windows 11.
Mozilla Firefox can now become your default browser in just one click on Windows PCs https://t.co/un4OjEFYRc
— OnMSFT.com (@onmsft) September 13, 2021
However, Mozilla has reportedly reverse-engineered the technique and essentially made switching the default browser a ‘one click’ affair. Users can experience the convenience of switching the default browser in Windows 11 to Firefox, in the browser’s latest version.
Simply put, Mozilla can let the Firefox browser become the default one without going through “Click agony”.
Mozilla has defeated Microsoft’s default browser protections in Windows https://t.co/rXGjBCF1T8 pic.twitter.com/8AQiYMt7Ya
— The Verge (@verge) September 13, 2021
Mozilla has been fighting with Microsoft for quite some time over the latter’s tactics. Interestingly, none of the other popular web browsers for Windows 11 have adopted a similar automation technique.