> In the latest preview version of Windows 10, Microsoft’s Mail app will automatically open web links in Edge, even for users who’ve set a different browser as their default.
Let's hope that stays in preview.
However, it isn't an uncommon tactic.
Outlook has occasionally defaulted to Internet Explorer over the default web browser in its past history, though to give the benefit of the doubt, those times were considered "bugs".
Google's GMail on Android tried it once or twice before resorting to embedding a web browser inside itself.
GMail now opens a web view, but that view is powered by the user default's browser.
The Google app (the one that powers the voice assistant and the search bar) always uses a Chrome web view instead.
On my work PC, I constantly get messages that "[Program] caused a problem, the default app has been reset to Microsoft Photo Viewer" etc. Then, when I change it back manually, Windows simply outright ignores it. Default apps on Windows 10 are a disaster, and I don't see the motivation for doing it. Why does Microsoft care which photo viewer or browser I use?
You might have been hit by a bug involving KB3135173 [0]. A later update fixed it, or modifying the Registry can fix it. Windows 10 seems to have issues if it expects a registry entry to exist, and it doesn't. (You probably have no control over any of this unfortunately, being a work PC).
There's really no good reason for Microsoft to be making these moves. Edge is a very solid browser, and a fairly good choice security-wise, if only because of it's very locked down set of extensions. I'm currently a Firefox daily user, but Edge has been my main browser for several months at a time. Why try to capture users by locking out the competition when you can just keep making a better browser?
This is burning the goodwill they've built up for no apparent conceivable reason, and remains an excellent example of a company sabotaging itself repeatedly.
Don't know what you are using but Edge sucks for me. It constantly freezes. It''ll freeze starting up or freeze shutting down. And once that happens the process stays stuck and you can't even kill it so you can't even try again. You just have to restart.
The mail app is so terrible, the few that put up with it likely won't mind this. It makes Outlook Express look good by comparison...
For the rest of us just stick to webmail or use Thunderbird/Outlook. Although in general my faith in email and desktop email clients diminishes with each passing year.
Apple and Google are doing this too: On my iPhone the Gmail app opens things in Chrome, the iOS promoted news stories are opened in Safari, yet I prefer Firefox.
This may have been wry humor on your part, but of course there is no Safari on Android... I do see the behavior you describe in the News & Weather app, which likes to open links in embedded Chrome Web Views (unless I long-press and then they will offer to open in browser, which happens to be FF).
The fact that Apple hasn’t ever let you set a default browser on iOS isn’t a good thing.
I fault Apple way more for never even offering the option and not letting you replace apps that don’t give you that option. I don’t really care what Microsoft does with their mail app that I never use because I can replace it.
Apple does not even give you the option to replace the SMS app in iOS, which always opens links in safari.
Also, even if Microsoft were behaving as badly as Apple...if Apple can do it why can’t Microsoft? Are you saying that they should never be allowed to change anything?
Apple doesn’t even have a majority market share in mobile phones. If you don’t like what they do you can just buy another phone. That’s not a monopoly.
That’s not monopoly. Monopoly means that effectively there is only one supplier and in the mobile phone market there are at least two, of which Apple is not even the largest.
Just because it is an important player it is hardly dominant.
Also, just because you don’t deem a market important anymore (and many people would beg to differ with your opinion) doesn’t change wether a party is a monopoly in that market or not.
I hope they lose and are forced to change their store rules so we can sell apps outside their store because whatever label you apply to their behavior, it's despicable IMO.
Yep. Its not a bad idea at all, stuff like this is what made Chrome huge on Android. A lot of users will never change default settings.
I mean I would love to live in a world were people make informed decisions based on research but that's not happening. Meanwhile advanced users retain the freedom to use whatever browser they want so everyone wins.
This may be a very naive question, but why is Microsoft so invested in getting people to use Edge/IE? What's the big deal for Microsoft if people just prefer to use Safari/Firefox/Chrome/Opera/etc? Their browser share is already very low, what do they stand to lose?
The silliest thing about Edge is that you can't search through your bookmarks ("favorites") or history. That alone makes it an automatic no for me. There are no other features they could add to get me to switch, I can't believe they don't have it already.
I tried it out on my laptop which I don't use much (mostly use my desktop dev rig) and was pleasantly surprised by it. It works pretty well with IMAP and the People app can sync directly with Google, something Outlook still can't do right. So, with a fresh install of Windows 10, you can get your Google-based email, calendar, and contacts into the lightweight built-in apps within about 5 minutes.
Yeah, I found with Mail for Windows 10 that the setup for gmail and my university's office365 account was fairly seamless. Likewise Outlook on Android (although I'm currently using K-9).
The only place I'm using webmail is on Linux but now Thunderbird is receiving new love it might be time...
I have a job at a large US company. Although I have admin rights and I can install basically anything I want, there is a script that sets the default browser at startup. Every time I encounter it, I get annoyed and I remember to not use the default browser (It is Edge).
Let's hope that stays in preview.
However, it isn't an uncommon tactic.
Outlook has occasionally defaulted to Internet Explorer over the default web browser in its past history, though to give the benefit of the doubt, those times were considered "bugs".
Google's GMail on Android tried it once or twice before resorting to embedding a web browser inside itself.