Windows users in the EU freed from forced Edge browser links
Windows users in the EU could finally and fully be set free from Microsoft's Edge browser. According to The Verge, Edge can be entirely ditched as the default browser for every and all operations in the latest dev builds of Windows 11. At least, it can be for builds configured for EU countries.
It's always been possible to install whatever browser you fancy on Windows, of course. But with Windows 10, Microsoft got a bit pushier in promoting its own Edge browser. In practice, that meant Edge popped up whenever you hit hyperlinks in widgets or Start Menu searches, regardless of the browser configured as the default.
That has carried through to existing retail builds of Windows 11. However, release notes for developer builds now indicate a change of policy which would see Windows 11 builds for EU territories respect default browser configuration for all actions, including widget and Start Menu search result links.
«In the European Economic Area (EEA), Windows system components use the default browser to open links,» the note says. So, strictly speaking, the change would apply to the EEA, which is a purely economic superset of the EU and contains three countries which aren't full EU members, rather than the EU. But anyway, the net result would be that you can entirely avoid using Edge.
The Verge asked Microsoft why the change only applies to EU / EEA territories, but Microsoft apparently declined to comment. The change is likely related to Microsoft's ongoing difficulties in the EU involving anti-trust investigations into Microsoft's bundling of Teams and Office software with Windows.
The EU has a track record of jumping on any such practices that it sees as anti-competitive. So, this could be Microsoft either heading off a
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