Microsoft blocks workarounds that let user avoid Edge browser in Windows 11
Certain end-to-end customer experiences in Windows 10 and Windows 11 are not designed to be redirected, it argues
Microsoft appears to have taken some more aggressive steps in its efforts to push Windows 11 users to adopt its Edge browser.
Last week, Microsoft released Windows 11 Insider preview build 22494, which appears to be blocking EdgeDeflector, a tool that allows users to open links associated with Microsoft Edge in a browser of their choice.
"Something changed between Windows 11 builds 22483 and 22494 (both Windows Insider Preview builds). The build changelog … omitted the headline news: you can no longer bypass Microsoft Edge using apps like EdgeDeflector," Daniel Aleksandersen, the creator of EdgeDeflector, wrote in a blog post.
EdgeDeflector, and other third-party browsers like Brave and Firefox, take Windows 11's built-in 'microsoft edge://' links and redirect them to a generic 'https://' link instead.
In a blog post, Microsoft confirmed that the company has fixed "an issue where OS functionality could be improperly redirected when microsoft-edge: links are invoked."
While the software company didn't say why it suddenly started to block EdgeDeflector and similar apps, Aleksandersen has an explanation.
"The 500,000 EdgeDeflector users were probably never more than a nuisance to Microsoft," Aleksandersen said.
"However, last month both the Brave and Firefox web browsers either copied EdgeDeflector's functionality or signalled it was on the roadmap."
Because Firefox has 200 million users, it likely led Microsoft to think about patching the workaround and force users to open "microsoft edge://" links via its own browser.
Microsoft said the new functionality will arrive for all Windows 11 users in a software update in the coming weeks.
For Aleksandersen, this is a breach of antitrust law.
"These aren't the actions of an attentive company that cares about its products anymore," he said.
"Microsoft isn't a good steward of the Windows operating system. [It's] prioritising ads, bundleware, and service subscriptions over their own productivity."
A Microsoft spokesperson told The Verge that while Windows enables other developers' apps and services on its platform, certain end-to-end customer experiences in Windows 10 and Windows 11 are not designed to be redirected.
"When we become aware of improper redirection, we issue a fix," the spokesperson added.
Microsoft's move to block links redirection may remind people of the firm's strategy around Internet Explorer, which eventually led to antitrust lawsuits in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Microsoft bundled Internet Explorer into Windows and would not allow computer manufacturers to unbundle it. The application was also set as Windows' default browser in every new machine.
Rivals argued that shipping Internet Explorer with Windows was unlawful, forcing customers to purchase two products together even when they required only one of them.
In the final settlement of the case, the software giant paid about $3 billion to rivals who had sued the firm in separate private antitrust lawsuits.
The company also faced several penalties in Europe over its anti-competitive Internet Explorer bundling, including a $732 million penalty for breaking a 2009 antitrust agreement.