Trying to change your browser? It might be harder than you think, based on one simple thing

Mozilla accused Microsoft of using Windows, Edge, Bing, and Copilot to steer users toward Edge Firefox maker claims stricter EU regulations force fairer browser choice than elsewhere Browser competition increasingly overlaps with the fight for AI distribution and user reach Mozilla has accused Microsoft of abusing its dominant position wherever it can to push people towards Edge, and away from other browsers .

The company framed the story as if it wants “better for the people”, while Microsoft only does it when it’s forced to, but is that really the case? In a newly released blog , Mozilla noted it has now been 100 days since it published Over The Edge 2.0, a report from “leading experts on deceptive design Dr.

Harry Brignull and Cennydd Bowles on how Windows, Edge, Bing, and Copilot are designed to steer people away from the browser they choose.” Better for the people In the report, Mozilla said that in the European Economic Area (EEA), where the Digital Market Acts (DMA) is being enforced, Microsoft is forced to “play fair”.

Anywhere else around the world, including the US, UK, India, and other parts of the planet, it still uses its “shady tactics”.

These include the Windows 10 message “You’re almost done setting up your PC” which allegedly uses “tricky wording” to pull people off the default they picked, Windows Search and Widgets opening links in Edge instead of the default browser, and Windows keeping Edge as the default for common browser file types like PDF and SVG, even after another browser were set up as the default.

Mozilla claims that even within the EU, Microsoft is doing all it can to steer people towards Edge.

That includes pre-pinning the browser to the taskbar which, according to the company, “seems to directly violate the ‘principled approach to app pinning and app defaults’, Copilot opening web links in a side-panel instead of in the browser, and Windows Backup “silently” trying to set Edge as the default when it restores a PC and “fails to properly bring the user’s own browser along.

“ “Most of the 2024 patterns are still there.

The 2026 patterns are worse.

Microsoft is using new surfaces like Copilot and the migration to Windows 11 to further undermine user choice,” Mozilla claims.

“We also shared the report with Microsoft and talked to them about the issues raised in the report.

We knew that an immediate change was unlikely, but we hoped that, when faced with independent evidence of harmful design practices impacting Windows users, they would also want better for people,” Mozilla said.

“Instead, it became clear that Microsoft will respect user choice only when it is forced to.

Microsoft’s standard for respecting people’s choices is legal compliance.