For Microsoft, all shots are obviously good to highlight Edge… According to our colleagues from the Gizmodo site, the latest Windows update has sabotaged the function to change the default browser. Now, Google Chrome users see pop-ups every time they open the browser.
For years now, Microsoft has taken this nasty habit of using all the means at its disposal to promote its Edge browser… Even if it means harming its competitors and harming the user experience.
We remember, for example, these anti-Google Chrome pop-ups that suddenly appeared on the download page of Google’s browser. Or even ads in the Start menu that encouraged Firefox users to switch to Edge.
But according to our colleagues on the site Gizmodoa Windows update released in April 2023 blocked a new button in Chrome which allowed to change default browser in one click, without having to go to the System settings. An appreciable feature that saved a lot of time.
Microsoft is sabotaging a popular Chrome feature
But even worse, many users of the Enterprise version of Windows have found that since downloading the Windows Update, the OS settings page was opening every time you started Google Chrome. “Every time I open Chrome, the default Windows app settings open. I tried many ways to solve this problem, without success”, wrote an administrator on a Microsoft forum.
“Since today we have noticed that several Windows 10 users (Version 22H2 with Microsoft’s latest April 11, 2023 updates) that when starting the Google Chrome browser, the default apps settings open every time. time”, writes another IT manager on the Chrome Enterprise forum.
Even better, a user on Reddit found that the default apps page popped up when the user clicked on any link in Google Chrome (provided you have Chrome as the default browser). This problem magically disappears by choosing Edge as the system browser.
Also read: Windows 10 – an annoying popup still advertises Microsoft Edge
Google bows and removes its button
Faced with this malfunction, Google had no other choice than to remove this button to quickly change the default browser. According to Steve Teixera, product manager at Mozilla, this is not the first time that Microsoft has taken anti-competitive measures like these main adversaries.
“When using Windows machines, Firefox users regularly encounter such obstacles, such as overriding their default browser choice, or misleading pop-ups and warnings that try to persuade them that Edge is somehow more secure”, provides the framework.
