Company looks for feedback on change that will make Windows Mail links open in Edge even if users have Chrome or Firefox set as default

Windows 10: Microsoft is looking to force people to use its Edge browser



Microsoft is looking to force users into using its Edge browser, by making it default for opening links from email.

Having struggled to entice users to ditch market-leader Chrome, or even its older, now decommissioned Internet Explorer, Microsoft is going to try and force it on people.

In the release notes for Microsoft’s latest early version of Windows 10, sent out to its so called Insiders, the Redmond-based company said: “We will begin testing a change where links clicked on within the Windows Mail app will open in Microsoft Edge, which provides the best, most secure and consistent experience on Windows 10 and across your devices.”

The change will ignore the wishes of the user, opening links in Edge regardless of which app is their designated default browser.

Windows Mail is the default email client that comes pre-installed on Windows 10 supporting various different email providers including Google’s Gmail.

The reason for the change is because “Microsoft Edge enables you to be more productive, organised and creative without sacrificing your battery life or security”, the company says.

This isn’t the first time Microsoft has tried to force users to at least try its new browser, which replaced Internet Explorer with the release of Windows 10 in July 2015. When you attempt to change the default browser to Google’s Chrome in the Settings app, Windows 10 asks users to make sure they really want to switch and whether they wouldn’t rather try Edge.

But Microsoft does allow users to force the change making Chrome, or any other browser, the default choice, opening links from other apps in their choice rather than Edge.

Despite Windows 10 being installed on 36% of desktop computers globally, according to data from StatCounter, Edge is only used by 4% of desktop computer users, behind Internet Explorer with 6.9%, Firefox with 11.5% and Google’s Chrome with a market-leading 67.5% share of users.

It is clear Microsoft needs to do something to stimulate use of Edge, but the change is likely to be extremely unpopular with both testers and regular users, if it is not altered before becoming default for all versions of Windows 10 going forwards. Microsoft said: “As always, we look forward to feedback from our Windows Insider Program community.”