Microsoft wants changing default apps in Windows to be less of a mess

One of the lasting legacies of the browser wars of the 90s is the tremendous amount of attention Microsoft has given to how it handles Windows default app settings, especially browser settings. According to a new blog post, the company plans to make it easier to change app defaults in future versions of Windows 11.

The company’s principled approach combines a broad and vague cliche (“Make sure people on Windows have control over pinning and changing defaults”) with new developer features. Future versions of Windows 11 will provide consistent “deep link URIs” for apps so users can navigate to the appropriate location in the Settings app to change app defaults. Microsoft also has pop-up notifications for newly installed apps to use if they want to pin themselves to the taskbar instead of pinning themselves by default or getting lost somewhere in the Start menu. add.

These new features will be added to Windows “in the coming months”, starting with Windows Insider Preview builds in the Dev Channel.

Microsoft sees these changes as a way to make changing the default apps easier and more consistent, but they also serve as a mild rebuke to developers who handle things differently. increase.

For example, Chrome and Firefox are automatically pinned to the taskbar without prompting during installation. Firefox can skip settings entirely and set itself as the default browser within an app, but Chrome’s[既定に設定]button, without detailed instructions on what needs to be done to change the default settings, the Settings app[既定のアプリ]A tab will open.

Yet another Windows feature displays a popup the first time you try to open a certain file type in Windows Explorer, asking which app on your PC to use to open that type of file. However, that window only pops up in certain circumstances and cannot be opened from the app itself. For example, if you try to change the default PDF reader from within Adobe Reader, the tutorial will use the old-school Windows properties window instead of the Settings app or the new default app picker.

Windows 11 made changing some types of default apps tedious. The Settings app in Windows 10 had several broad default app categories that you could change with a single click, like browser, view photos, open email, and more. However, the Settings app in Windows 11 uses a more granular system of setting default apps one file extension at a time.

Subsequent updates to the OS have made switching between browsers slightly easier. At least now you can set the default browser with one button by navigating to that browser within the Default Apps area of ​​the Settings app. only applied, leaving image editors and other types of apps more complex to control one file type at a time.

Using these new features is not mandatory. App developers who handle things differently don’t need to change their apps immediately. However, the company says it will do more to block “unsolicited changes to user preferences later this year, after application developers have had time to incorporate these new best practices.” said to start

Microsoft will also release an update to the Edge browser that will start using the new settings deep linking and pinning APIs added to Windows. As to whether installing a different default browser will stop your company from prompting you to switch to Edge, or setting a new default search engine in Edge will stop prompting you to switch back to Bing. , nothing has been announced.