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from the tigers-never-change-their-stripes dept.
Windows 11 Is Making It Absurdly Difficult to Change Browsers
In a page ripped right out of the '90s, Microsoft reminds us that it's still engaging in the browser wars.
[....] there have been plenty of chances to dive into the OS to see what's next from Microsoft. And there's evidence of the same old story. Namely, Microsoft wants to make it hard for you to use a browser that isn't Edge.
The Verge reports on how convoluted the new process is to change the default browser in Windows 11. Like in Windows 10, you'll get a prompt when you click on a web link asking you to choose an app. But unless you specifically tell the system that you'd like to switch browsers, it will assume you're okay with Microsoft Edge as the default.
[....] It gets worse: if you don't remember on the initial pop-up, you'll have to dig into the settings to change the default app for every specific file type. This can get tedious! It means you'll have to tell Windows which app should open an HTM, HTML, PDF, SVG, and XHTML file—and that's only a sampling of the file types that a browser can open. Additional screenshots show Windows 11 still nags the user to try Microsoft Edge when switching browsers.
From the same people who brought us IE 6, the bane of web developers everywhere, now comes Edge — the browser with the swirl toilet flushing icon.
(Score: 4, Touché) by Opportunist on Friday August 20 2021, @01:07PM (6 children)
It's still about 4 years 'til support for Win10 ends. In other words, 4 years before anyone with half a brain downgrades to 11.
In the meantime, MS will change and soften up a lot of things when they notice that their new OS is about as popular as foot fungus, and by then, third party tools to mitigate the worst shortcomings will be available, too.
Didn't you learn anything from Win10?
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Friday August 20 2021, @04:12PM
Hey, maybe the last thing I'll need to learn from Microsoft will have been with Win10. Win11, even crappier. Switch to Linux.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 3, Touché) by srobert on Friday August 20 2021, @04:14PM (1 child)
I figure I'm about 5 years from retirement. I have to use Windows at work, so by your estimate, I may spend the last year or so of work enduring Windows 11. That should create just enough inefficiency to keep me employed at the end.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Opportunist on Friday August 20 2021, @08:36PM
Well, let's put it that way. I work in IT security. I lovingly call Windows "my eternal job security".
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Friday August 20 2021, @04:53PM (2 children)
FWIW, Win7 still works. It took some diligence to prevent it updating to 10, but it's still supported by everything that counts. It hasn't seen a security update for a scary long time now, but it still works. Anyone who has installation media lying around with SP1 slipstreamed into it can probably do well for some time to come. Those who are concerned about antivirus will find that Win7 versions are still available, and regularly updated.
I really don't know what we're going to do when Win7 finally craps out.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 20 2021, @06:43PM
"I really don't know what we're going to do when Win7 finally craps out."
Actually start switching off it and telling windows users to stuff it if they aren't using cross-platform data formats.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 22 2021, @03:26PM
Keep running it in a VM in perpetuity on top of whatever.