Microsoft plans to replace Windows 11 to dam a workaround that has allowed customers to open Start menu search leads to a browser aside from Edge. The loophole was popularized by , an app that means that you can bypass a number of the built-in browser restrictions present in Windows 10 and 11. Before this week, corporations like Mozilla and Brave had deliberate to implement related workarounds to permit customers to open Start menu leads to their respective browsers, however now will not have the option to take action.

When the block first appeared in an early preview build of Windows 11 final week, it appeared prefer it was added by mistake. However, on Monday, the corporate confirmed it deliberately closed the loophole.

“Windows openly enables applications and services on its platform, including various web browsers,” a spokesperson for Microsoft informed . “At the same time, Windows also offers certain end-to-end customer experiences in both Windows 10 and Windows 11, the search experience from the taskbar is one such example of an end-to-end experience that is not designed to be redirected. When we become aware of improper redirection, we issue a fix.”

Daniel Aleksandersen, the developer of EdgeDeflector, was fast to criticize the transfer. “These aren’t the actions of an attentive company that cares about its product anymore,” he mentioned in a . “Microsoft isn’t a good steward of the Windows operating system. They’re prioritizing ads, bundleware, and service subscriptions over their users’ productivity.”

Mozilla was equally crucial of Microsoft. “People deserve choice. They should have the ability to simply and easily set defaults and their choice of default browser should be respected,” a spokesperson for the corporate informed The Verge. “We have worked on code that launches Firefox when the microsoft-edge protocol is used for those users that have already chosen Firefox as their default browser. Following the recent change to Windows 11, this planned implementation will no longer be possible.”

Other than the actual fact Microsoft ought to let Edge converse for itself, the corporate’s habits right here raises a query about its priorities. Windows 11 doesn’t make it straightforward to modify your default browser. Someone shouldn’t need to undergo the difficulty of telling Windows they need to use a unique browser just for the working system to point out them webpages in a single they particularly determined they don’t need to use.