Microsoft is making it harder to switch default browsers in Windows 11
theverge.com
theverge.com
You can use any browser of your choice if its a Microsoft Edge theme.
You can always switch operating systems if you don't like this after all.
Not trying to defend either, it's just the double standards feel puzzling to me.
Right now, Apple's smartphone market share in the USA is only 50%. Microsoft's Windows is probably at 80%+ of the desktop market.
They are talking about iOS.
It's not literally a "skin", Firefox on iOS is actually a separate Apple-approved app. It's just that they're forced to embed the Safari engine rather than using Gecko for it.
As for iOS: yes stuck with safari as default.
A worse offence is having a platform so locked down that clearing opened apps from the recents menu has to be done one by one instead of having a simple single "clear all" solution the alternative to which is using a 'tweak' which would necessitate having a jailbroken phone which would, in turn, involve connecting the phone to a computer to get jailbroken on each restart or a more convoluted method.
Another widely-known issue: when using apps with an alternative store like AltStore without jailbreak, you either need to connect to a Windows/MacOS or use some tweak to have on-device signing enabled within every seven days unless you have a Apple Developer subscription.
Moreover, iOS has "slide to poweroff" but there is no convenient way to restart[1]: Xiaomi copied the UX and even made it better by needing less steps. Even simple changes requiring steps so radical (perhaps not as radical as flashing a 'custom ROM' but is IMO less rewarding than the latter) and regular maintenance is telling.
Probably intentional, as when someone does not understand something, there is a good chance it will be ignored.
I'm all for having the ability to make fine-tuned changes to settings, but these need to be under some kind of advanced dialog in my opinion.
This UI change shows no indication (for example) what a .svg file is, or what a .shtml file is. How on earth can a none tech user know what these mean when by default file extensions are hidden on Windows.
I work with many people who simply do not know what file extensions are.
I use it at work on my Mac as it's our official browser at work (after significant pressure from Microsoft) but for personal use I greatly prefer Firefox. It's a much better browser anyway.
2. Doesn't do anything about mobile - Be interested in the search market - phone vs PC split here.
3. Technically interested in how M$ try to make it harder. Google etc. can always throw in a solution too (e.g. making users re-install their browser and tick the make main browser etc.)
Microsoft does on the desktop market. Like 95% . This is why antitrust rules were applied to them before and hopefully will be again.
Come on. Those of us who are a little older remember when this browser lock-in was Microsoft's SOP in the 90s.
And not just browsers. MSFT has used lots of dirty tricks to fool their customers and thus lock them into using their DOS ('AARD'), their 'Java', their disk-compression, and other different stuff since 1975.
People keep saying 'It's a new Microsoft. They are much better than they used to be' - but I keep seeing the dirty tricks returning over and over again. Maybe one day they will change. But I don't see that day any time soon.
Recent history has shown that there are no significant drawbacks to behaving this way, so from Microsoft's point of view it would be stupid not to do it.
I would also prefer competition that is based on giving better search results, rather than abusing the fact that you own the operating system.