Pathetic and predatory? Has Microsoft tried to use Windows 11 updates to sneakily switch people to Edge and Bing?
Microsoft is not exactly a stranger to -- how can we put this gently? -- slightly underhand tactics. And if complaints about recent updates for Windows 11 are anything to go by, this is not something that's changing any time soon.
According to reports, automatic updates for Windows 11 have been used to not only deliver security fixes, but also to change people's default web browser to Microsoft Edge. Some are also complaining that Bing.com loads every time Windows starts up. The behavior has led some to accuse Microsoft of being "very sneaky".
EdgeDeflector alternative MSEdgeRedirect now redirects more content to your default browser
Microsoft has been quite aggressive in pushing its Edge browser, raising the hackles of many Windows users by ignoring default browser settings. The company's approach means that regardless of which web browser is set as default in Windows 10 and Windows 11, certain types of web content will always open in Edge.
The links of EdgeDeflector and similar tools popped up to intercept such links – such as clicking links in the News widget in Windows 11 – and force them to open in the default browser, but Microsoft has been busily trying to block such activity. One tool that continue to work is MSEdgeRedirect, and it has just been updated to make it even more useful.