The Browser Choice Alliance Wants to Keep Microsoft Edge in Check

Microsoft’s heavy-handed promotion of its Edge browser within Windows is no secret. Vivaldi, Opera, and a few others are joining forces to fight this preferential treatment of Edge.

Vivaldi, Waterfox, Wavebox, Opera, and Chrome have formed an informal alliance called the “Browser Choice Alliance.” It’s trying to raise awareness of Microsoft’s shady practices of gatekeeping third-party browsers. “Unfortunately, Microsoft has made it increasingly harder for third-party browsers to acquire or keep users on Windows, with an ever-changing repertoire of scare screens, nudges, friction points and deceptive practices,” Vivaldi explained the problem.

Switching to the default browser on Windows used to take a single click. You opened the settings, and picked the browser of your choice from a simple down-drop menu. Microsoft has since reversed the change, but for quite some time, switching the default browser on Windows 11 needed a dozen clicks, and then some. You had to pick the preferred browser for every single link type and file type manually. By default, they were all set to Edge, so you have to go into the settings and change each one to the new browser, including HTML, HTM, SHTML and other types. Even after all that, certain links (like search bar actions or Teams links) might default to Edge.

Once you manage to switch to the default browser, the Edge browser will even try to copy tabs from Chrome regularly if you let it. If you search for a third-party browser within Edge, it’ll tell you “there’s no need to download a new web browser. Microsoft recommends using Microsoft Edge for a fast, secure, and modern web experience that can help save you time and money”.

The alliance is making the case that the way Microsoft pushes Edge is making it hard for other browsers to compete on the Windows platform. And the only way to change that is for regulatory authorities to step in and force Microsoft to let the consumers choose which browser they use without the anti-competitive approach.

Source: Vivaldi