Comments on Windows now blocks Edge browser competitors from opening links

the bad news is EdgeDeflector also does not work on Win10 as well

Yes, it also affects Windows 10 now. I wasn’t sure if Microsoft would backport the change to Windows 10 or now when I wrote the article.

Yes this is bad. Now do Google.

"Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated", said The Edge.

Luckily MSEdgeRedirect does the job just fine – albeit by running a service in the background, or listening for MSEdge launches. Not so clean, but since it's FOSS, I don't think it's much to worry about.

https://github.com/rcmaehl/MSEdgeRedirect

> Luckily MSEdgeRedirect does the job just fine

I’ve looked at it and other alternatives, and I decided to not use any of them. They’re all brittle hacks that waste resources.

I decided to leave Windows 11 behind and move back to Linux.

God that's so scummy of Microsoft. I noticed EdgeDeflector suddenly didn't work in Windows 10 and I'm surprised nobody seems to be talking about the recent change that blocks it. They really keep on digging this hole.

Microsoft has changed a lot. Every Windows they released I enjoyed it. Until they released Windows 8, everything has changed into controlling what the user must use and there are more restrictions

Microsoft wants me to use Edge so badly. But I'll just end up not using their Start menu search feature for web searches! Oh well! They wanted to eat their cake and have it too, and they'll end up not having any cake whatsoever.

We pay good money for our devices, so we should be able 2 change the device the way we want. Corporate Bullying again, :( however Those that sit on their high perch will eventually fall.

Out of desperation, they're trying to control the IT space forever. Unfortunately they still havn't learnt and will never learn from their previous blunders. All they do best is to steal or buy innovation from startups and force everyone to abide by their nonsense. I am hoping there will be an alternative to Github where they can never spoil it for everyone because their forced presence in everything is really unhealthy for our innovative minds.

On Windows 10 use the Address bar while still available. This got removed in Win 11 which has a thick un-customisable task bar,

Right-click over task bar select Toolbars > Address. The address bar allow to launch the default browser just type a url or text and this will appear in the default search engine from your default browser. Hoping this helps

I had been using Edge Deflector for years, it is sad that Microsoft needs to resort to such underhanded tactics instead of just making a product with great features that everyone wants to use instead. I don't even bother using the search in Windows very much anymore because of the incessant Edge annoyance. I found a page where you can delete the file out of Windows but then you can't get updates.

Thanks for posting the MSEdgeRedirect link. So far it seems to be working at redirecting the links.

They are breaking the law with this change.

The previous cases set the precedent that they could not tie additional software to the OS which was not part of the OS: e.g. Internet Explorer, Windows Media Player. They had to let you choose.

Now they're trying it again.

Wish I had crippled Windows Update as well as their useless Windows Defender. But too late now. I'm not going to go through the rigmarole of getting hold of an older copy of Windows. Though I will, I think, now cripple Windows Update. There is no need for these updates. There are no significant security vulnerabilities to be patched up. All they are doing is pushing their own spyware onto you.

Awful company. Bill Gates's so-called philanthropy let to fewer people taking Covid vaccines rather than more. They should pay their taxes and let us democratically decide how they are spent - not decide unilaterally.

I will never pay a single cent to Microsoft. I have pirated Windows 10 IoT LTSC and removed all of the useless, telemetry infested shit (Edge, Store, Windows Update, Defender).

They will ALWAYS push the worst anti-user decisions on the userbase with the excuse of "muh security". The change mentioned in the article is (as ALWAYS) excused by "making Windows more secure for our users".

I have also pirated all of Microsoft Office products and will never pay a cent for them. I will also delay updating Windows 10 for as long as possible, as I did with Windows 7 (which I would use today, if it ran on my modern CPU). Any single update is a huge risk of an anti-user change. Whatever system in the future I switch to (linux, mac, windows 12?), I will go out of my way to never pay a single cent to Microshaft and to send them as little data about me as possible.