I'm obviously biased because I work on a browser (specifically a browser that isn't made by Microsoft), but to me this is clearly about trying to capture the users who stopped using IE over the years.
But those users never used Edge ;) A cynical person could say preserving the previous choice is just Firefox's fear that once a user tests the new Microsoft browser they won't jump back to Firefox.
It also shows that Firefox doesn't have the greatest opinion of their users if it thinks all it takes for them to stop using Firefox is for it to require twice the number of mouse clicks to set it to default.
I got really sick of Microsoft trying to force me to do what they wanted back in the 1990s. In the 2000s, they seemed to change for the better. (Maybe that was due to the antitrust settlement.) Now here they are back to their old ways.
No. This API for settings defaults deliberately does not work anymore.
Why? Everything should always be carried over. Someone purposefully setup their environment and now because you upgrade their software they now have to re-setup N number of things?
No thanks. You need to eliminate as much friction as possible in all of the experiences you create. Even installations / upgrades / rollbacks.
True. However that default browser/file extension handlers preferences should be a priority to carry forward.
It may be easy to set your new default browser, but it's one more thing I have to do to personalize my computer, instead of using my computer to do the tasks at hand.
It's a fundamental difference between MSFT and AAPL's philosphy (and why I made the switch a while back). Everytime I upgrade OS X, my settings carry forward, so there is less time spent doing things like setting up my computer, and more time spent using my computer to solve problems that I care about.
Especially when you've previously been in antitrust lawsuits over abusing your position as the OS developer to take over the browser market.
> It may be easy to set your new default browser, but it's one more thing I have to do to personalize my computer, instead of using my computer to do the tasks at hand.
They moved it into the settings app, so this is no longer just "Open Firefox, click 'set as default'" anymore. Changing it in the Settings app is easy for us, but incomprehensible to less proficient users. I understand why they changed that, but it makes forcing Edge as default a huge dick move on MS's part.
AFAIK, both ways should still work. The settings app is just a replacement for "Default Apps and Programs" (or something like that) which was in since Windows 7, maybe even Vista.
Edit: At least in Chrome, clicking "Make Google Chrome the default browser" opens up the settings app to the correct view, so it's only a matter of selecting the existing browser and choosing Chrome. It's not one click anymore, which kind of sucks, but I wouldn't call it hard, even for an average user.
Been that way for a couple months in technical preview builds, with even first party software (OneNote desktop vs modern) continuing to ask if you want to set it as default, followed by a system popup telling you to use the Settings app.
I suspect its a far less sinister reasoning for the change.
You'd have to ask someone inside MS if you want to know what they were thinking.
So there clearly isn't a difference in philosophy. In fact, Apple is far more ready to make your past software investment invalid.
There is no denying that Apple is a closed ecosystem.
The "Default Programs" control has very few settings; very few settings that need to be imported, but somehow Microsoft ignored the settings that just happen to give them an advantage. Mozilla is spot on here.
No, while that's part of the problem, the main problem is that the facility for changing the setting has been made less convenient, takes more steps, and is more cumbersome, which is clearly a design choice focused on frustrating those who attempt to switch and discouraging switching.