While Windows is the most popular operating system with running on over 87.56% of PCs worldwide, it is also one of the most hated OS on the planet.
But ever since Microsoft bundled Internet Explorer with Windows back in 1998, the United States DoJ filed an anti-trust case against the tech giant on the charges that they were trying to win the browser wars and trying to establish a monopoly.
Eventually, Microsoft lost the case and as a result, lost a huge chunk of market share. Again in 2014, the European Union slammed Microsoft for not giving users the option to use their preferred internet browser, resulting in a $731 million fine.
After paying a hefty fine, many thought that Microsoft had learned its lesson. As it turns out, the company is still indulging in anti-competitive practices. With the launch of Windows 11, they made it harder to switch the default browser.
That being said, many resorted to tools like EdgeDeflector to redirect OS-level URL requests to use browsers other than Edge. Last month, the developer of EdgeDeflector said that Microsoft had indeed patched the vulnerability.
While they were unsure if it would make it to the final version, it looks like tuesday’s Windows update patch has finally killed (1,2,3) the Firefox default browser workaround. Microsoft had earlier termed the workaround as improper in a statement made to The Verge.
While a new tool called MSEdgeRedirect seems to be working, the workaround has to run in the background at all times, which was not the case with EdgeDeflector.
Users are frustrated with the tech giant and wondering why they have to resort to such tactics with many saying that Edge is already good enough.
While there is no word from Microsoft, we hope they revert the decision of shutting down Windows default browser workarounds and let users choose their preferred browsers like Brave, Firefox or Chrome.
Note: We have more such stories in our dedicated Windows Section so be sure to follow them as well.
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