Microsoft has shown it’s willing to play dirty with Windows 11 to compete at the top of the browser market.
Microsoft appears to have taken further steps to funnel Windows 11 users towards its web browser Edge, whether they like it or not. Since the latest Windows 11 update (build 22494), users have reported the operating system will no longer allow links associated with Microsoft Edge to be opened in any other browser. For a number of years, Microsoft has used a custom URI scheme to force links opened via its own services (e.g. Windows 11 widgets, the Start menu etc.) to launch in Edge. By using the URL prefix “microsoft-edge:”, the company can direct the OS to open the relevant site in its own-brand browser, even if another is set as the default. Until now, users have been able to rely on a free service called EdgeDeflector to counteract this URI scheme, and rival browsers Firefox and Brave feature similar in-built workarounds.
