The Firefox maker claims more improvements are needed

Apr 1, 2022 08:27 GMT  ·  By

If you’re a long-time Windows user, you probably remember the Windows 7 days when setting a new browser as the default option on the operating system came down to pretty much just one button.

This button was most often embedded right into the browser itself, so for example, if you wanted to use Firefox as the default choice, the app included a dedicated option in this regard.

Simply pressing “Set Firefox as default browser” button within the app reconfigured the settings in Windows, therefore making the process overall as easy as 1-2-3.

Times have changed, and the modern versions of Windows turned the entire experience into one big mess. In Windows 11, users have long been required to change the default setting for every file and link type on the device, something that many people refused to do and eventually decided to stick with Microsoft Edge.

You can see where this is going.

Fast forward to March and here’s Microsoft shipping an optional cumulative update that makes it much easier to change the default browser in Windows 11. There’s a new (just one!) button in Settings that takes care of the whole process.

Mozilla, the maker of Firefox, is obviously pleased with the change, but the company explains there’s still more work that needs to be done, as the process of setting a new default app shouldn’t by any means be so complicated.

“People should have the ability to simply and easily set defaults and all operating systems should offer official developer support for default status,” a Mozilla spokesperson explained. “In practice, we'd like to also see progress on reducing the number of steps required to set a new browser as default, and on opening and making APIs available for apps to set default that other Microsoft applications use.”

Microsoft hasn’t offered any response, but hopefully, the company will further refine the default app experience in Windows 11.