Windows 11 prohibited opening system links in third-party browsers
Microsoft prohibited opening system links in browsers other than Edge. This is reported by The Register.
The authors noticed that the prefix “microsoft-edge: //” is added to the system links, because of which the content can only be displayed in the Edge browser. Thus, users are forced to access the program built into the OS. Links that open only through Edge include content in the Settings, News, Widgets sections.
Journalists recalled that users had criticized this feature earlier. Third-party developers released several utilities that intercepted and removed the “microsoft-edge: //” prefix so that the link could be opened in any browser.
Journalists reached out to other browser vendors to comment on the news of the forced use Edge. “People deserve a choice, their choice of default browser must be respected,” said Mozilla, which maintains the Firefox project. “Microsoft needs to understand that antitrust services aren't just looking at Google, Facebook and Apple,” said a spokesperson for the Brave browser team.
Microsoft did not respond to a publication request.
In late July, it became known that Microsoft made it difficult to change the browser in Windows 11. Also, every time you try to change Edge to a different browser, the OS will ask the user not to rush into a decision.