Microsoft makes it easy tochange the default browser in Windows 11. That’s important if you require special features specific to one of the many web browsers that are available on a PC. Unfortunately, it’s not as simple to be rid of Edge entirely.
Microsoft Edge will still load to open some other file types. When opening a link from Windows Settings or other system components, the webpage will load in Edge. That’s now about to change, however, according to a recent Windowsblog post.
The notes on the latest version of Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 23531 (Dev Channel) indicate a different behavior in the European Economic Area (EEA). Windows system components will open links in the default browser. If you’ve chosen Google Chrome as your system preference, for example, Windows will respect your choice, but only if you live in the EEA.
It’s not that Microsoft Edge is a bad browser, but you should have a right to choose. Microsoft has been busily adding tons of new features, including theBing sidebarthat lets you accessBing Chatfor some assistance without interrupting your normal browser flow.
Edge runs on the same Chromium browserbase code as Google Chromeand can even use Chrome extensions. Bookmarks are easy to import, so the transition is pretty painless.
DespiteMicrosoft’s efforts to replace Internet Explorerwith the much faster and better Edge browser, there are good reasons to look elsewhere. The list ofWindows web browsersis quite long and there are plenty of excellent alternatives to Microsoft Edge.
Hopefully, Microsoft will bring this upcoming change to everyone and fully respect people’s choice for a default web browser. If it’s restricted to the EEA, it’s probably mandated by law. Even if there isn’t a legal requirement, Microsoft should let you decide which browser you want to use for every link.
