The upgrade to Windows 10 doesn’t uninstall competitor browsers from the devices, though if users decide to restore Firefox or Chrome as their default browsers, they will have to follow a couple of steps after launching their browser of choice to give command to Windows 10 about their new choice.
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“It now takes more than twice the number of mouse clicks, scrolling through content and some technical sophistication for people to reassert the choices they had previously made in earlier versions of Windows”, says Beard.
The company has been working hard in promoting their own brand across platforms and the marketing team in Microsoft gets full marks for these efforts.
Once users update their PCs to Windows 10, the default browsers for their systems will automatically change to Microsoft Edge, which is the successor to Microsoft’s now-defunct Internet Explorer. It is very transparent and simple.
“That said, users who want to use Firefox, Chrome or others as their default browsers will have to go through a manual process similar to the one in Windows 8“, he told TechNewsWorld.
Beard said he’s concerned not because of Mozilla’s position as the maker of Firefox, but because Microsoft isn’t respecting choices users made when they were using previous versions of Windows.
Mozilla tried to work with Microsoft to ensure that users of Firefox wouldn’t face unnecessary headaches, Beard claimed, but to no avail.
While Microsoft has a long history of innovation that has unquestionably changed the world, they do have a tendency to become the punchline among tech users who aren’t too excited about their offerings. “During the upgrade, consumers have the choice to set defaults, including for web browsing”. Yes, the new Edge browser is really good, fast and light, but there are people who believe it is just not playing fair.
“We strongly urge you to reconsider your business tactic here and again respect people’s right to choice and control of their online experience”.
Another potential security concern is Edge’s support for asm.js, a Mozilla-developed subset of JavaScript that has proved problematic in other browsers. You can then choose your alternative search engine and click the Add as default button.
“With the launch of Windows 10 we are deeply disappointed to see Microsoft take such a dramatic step backwards”, Beard said.
In the open letter, Beard termed the decision from Microsoft to make Edge the default browser an “aggressive move to override user choice”. Microsoft replied by saying that “if we learn from user experience that there are ways to make improvements, we will do so”.
We presume Mozilla will not be sending out any cakes this time round.
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And that’s it. If you want to change the rest of your default apps, you can do that here too.
