Microsoft pushes Edge forward when changing default browser in Windows 10

Microsoft recently started showing a notification in Windows 10 when users try to change the default browser. The window urges users to give Microsoft’s own Edge browser a try.

The window is visible in the Settings menu if users want to set a different default browser, such as Firefox or Chrome, reports The Verge. This happens in the online build 10568 of the operating system. The window shows the message: ‘before you change the default app, see what you can do with an app built only for Windows 10’. The next button that gets the most attention is ‘don’t change and try it now’, while a less conspicuous button says ‘change anyway’.

Not only with browsers, but also when choosing a different music or video player, users are presented with a window with the request to use the Groove apps built into Windows.

Pushing your own apps in Windows is sensitive, because the European Commission had to take measures in previous versions of Windows to give third-party software a good chance. For example, in Windows 7 users were given a browser selection screen so as not to disadvantage Mozilla and Opera, among others, and there were so-called N versions of Windows without Windows Media Player.

Already, Microsoft sets Edge as the default browser after an update to Windows 10, if users miss a checkmark in the setup, something Mozilla complained about earlier. Because the build isn’t out yet, it’s possible that Microsoft will change or tweak the window before the release, The Verge says.