Windows 11 Insider Preview makes it more difficult for users to switch to Chrome by default

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Now that Edge is built on Chromium, you might think it would be almost identical to Chrome, but both Google and Microsoft have kept completely separate and distinct experiences even though their development teams work closely together. For example, Edge implemented the Coupon Finder feature before Chrome added them to the new tab page modules via the Chrome Cart experience, and they were already added in vertical tabs while Chrome moved away from it.

However, the fact that it is owned by two completely different companies with very different philosophies about technology and user data is reason enough for users to choose a side. For this reason, it is clear that Chrome users testing Windows 11 Insider Preview start their desktop experience by installing the browser of their choice, which is not a new Microsoft Internet Explorer alternative.

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At first, Insider Preview respected a user’s choice to switch to Chrome as the default browser, and it only took a few clicks – one to choose Chrome from the list, and another to tell Edge to get lost after a very direct suggestion to make it a try before switching. Now, Tom Warren of The Verge has discovered that Windows 11 is now forcing users to go through a plethora of file type associations and switch from Edge to Chrome manually.

This means that instead of selecting Chrome once, you will have to select it eleven times (HTM, HTML, PDF, SHTML, SVG, WEBP, XHT, XHTML, FTP, HTTP, HTTPS). Check out Tom’s tweet below as he painstakingly goes through the process one item at a time for his determination.

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Microsoft is making it more difficult to switch default browsers in Windows 11. Besides new tools that ignore your default browser choice, Microsoft’s browser competitors aren’t happy. My report is here: https://t.co/57PTPAMgRD https://t.co/zozUpZpk9r

“We have been increasingly concerned about the trend on Windows,

“Since Windows 10, users have had to take additional and unnecessary steps to set and keep their default browser settings. These barriers are confusing at best and appear designed to undermine a user’s choice of a non-Microsoft browser.”

Selina Dickleman, Senior Vice President of Firefox for The Verge

This is obviously very worrying, but not unexpected. Microsoft owns Windows, so it can technically do whatever it wants – just as Google did with Chrome OS. However, Windows 11 isn’t called Edge OS, so the company will likely sort that out before it ships the shiny new OS so it doesn’t irritate millions of users. Several industry professionals stepped in to make a statement about this decision to make switching default web browsers more difficult in early Windows build testing, including Firefox’s senior vice president, Hiroshi Lockheimer, Google’s senior vice president, himself.

This is from the company that claims to be the most open, with the “biggest choice”. I hope this is just a preview for the developers, and the shipping version of Windows 11 fulfills their demands. This is far from “choice”.

Hiroshi Lockheimer – Senior Vice President of Google – Twitter

Many of Hiroshi’s followers on Twitter were quick to point out the fact that Chrome OS doesn’t directly allow a full version of Edge to be installed, and that switching default browsers on Android requires several clicks as well. One user specifically targeted his concerns about Microsoft by saying that Google is only concerned that Microsoft’s decision will directly affect the number of users working in Chrome rather than Edge. Obviously many parties are divided on this as you will see when you read the tweet responses, but I want to know your thoughts in the comments below!

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