Mozilla criticizes Microsoft over Windows 10 browser change

Mozilla CEO Chris Beard has blasted Microsoft in a pair of posts to the organization’s blog, arguing that Windows 10’s default browser settings are a “dramatic step backwards” for respecting user choice. “It’s confusing, hard to navigate and easy to get lost”, he adds.

Chris Beard, Mozilla CEO, has written an open letter addressed to Microsoft, taking aim at the company’s policy on handling changes made to default applications in Windows 10.

Edge works just like you’d expect and, based on its performance so far, it could give the likes of Chrome and Firefox a run for their money. Until the end of 2014, they also included a “browser choice” ballot that popped up, asking which browser the user would like to use. While in previous versions of Windows, changing the default browser was usually as easy as clicking a button in a prompt from your favorite browser, the change is now made within Windows 10’s settings.

Once you have gone over those Windows 10 privacy issues, you then need to consider a few more settings.

Beard said he’s concerned not because of Mozilla’s position as the maker of Firefox, but because Microsoft isn’t respecting choices users made when they were using previous versions of Windows. He noted that the “upgrade process is mostly painless”, but cautioned that the addition of Cortana to Windows 10 may fall flat for users, since it’s “better suited for smartphones”. That means, if you were using Chrome or Firefox as your default browser in Windows 8.1, the preference will now be shifted to Edge as the new default browser as soon as you upgrade. He specifically called on Microsoft for wanting to impose their preferred internet browsing experience on new Windows 10 users.

Microsoft’s new Settings menu and the default app selection screen.

While behemoth Google can likely roll with the punches, smaller rival Mozilla is blasting Microsoft for making it hard on Firefox users. Mozilla’s Beard says that they reached out to Microsoft when they first learnt of the change in Windows 10, but “unfortunately this didn’t result in any meaningful change”.

Microsoft’s Windows 10 specification page states that the upgrade assistant will scan your system and determine if your installed software is compatible with the new operating system. In addition to updating the operating system, Windows 10 is also notable in that it replaces the long-running Internet Explorer with Edge, a browser that Microsoft touts as lighter, faster and more modern than IE. While Visual Studio 2015 was released last week, it said that it was not compatible with pre-10240 SDKs and would delete them during the installation process and you will be unable to develop SDK apps until the one for 10240 launches on July 29th.