5 ms·

Another thing: Windows 10 at some point removed the API for changing default URI and file handlers, so they would need to use private APIs for something like th

Another thing: Windows 10 at some point removed the API for changing default URI and file handlers, so they would need to use private APIs for something like that (to be fair, APIs for automatically pinning icons to the Taskbar never existed in the first place, but all Chromium-based browsers do it anyway)

smileybarry 6y ago
Setting file handlers are still allowed IIRC but yes, the default browser API doesn't work anymore and pops up a "select a default browser" widget. IIRC no browser currently force-selects a default browser via private API, except for new Edge if you had old Edge as default (since old Edge is uninstalled at the same time).
- cptskippy 6y ago
  Yeah it seems like Microsoft is playing both sides. On the one hand they want New Edge to just be a new version of Edge if they already use Old Edge, and on the other they want New Edge to be treated as a new browser if you aren't using Old Edge.
  - cbo100 6y ago
    That's no different to how Firefox or Chrome would do it if I had an old version of either installed. I.e. If Firefox switched to Chromium I would expect the exact same behaviour "New Firefox" and "Old Firefox" is not a distinction.
    - Dylan16807 6y ago
      You're missing the point, though. You can make a consistent explanation for either side, as you have just done. If it's the same browser, then transferring the default status is correct. If it's a new browser, then asking what should be default is correct. Chredge is doing both, depending on which one advantages them more.
      - im3w1l-alt 6y ago
        Consider this from the perspective of the user's intention. This is the exact behavior I would want if I installed Edge. Saying this as someone who mainly uses firefox and occasionally brave.
        franga2000 6y ago
        But users didn't install Edge. It installed itself. Yes, writing a special case for just this one situation sounds annoying, but they have a responsibility to their users. If the user didn't install something new, they shouldn't get the popup. That was the deal and MS broke it.
        jodrellblank 6y ago
        Getting updates from Windows Update with everything they include, was also part of the deal. As you say, they have responsibility to their users; If the URL handler was old Edge, and they didn't change it while removing old Edge, the user would have broken internet access and not understand why. That's no good. If the URL handler was updated to quietly move to new Edge, they just swapped out a major piece of software for one which looks and behaves differently, with a different icon, without any introduction or warning or confirmation, which is an awful experience for users. Microsoft get accused of special-casing themselves and their browser, and it breaks the work Microsoft has done for years to stop programs changing file/protocol handlers without confirming it with the user. [see Raymond Chen writing about it here https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20181016-00/?p=99985 https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20181016-00/?p=99... ] If they decide a browser is not part of Windows and you have to install new Edge from the app store yourself, tens of millions of computers are now stuck on the last version of old Edge basically forever - because there's no Windows 11 on the way to replace it - and it becomes the new IE6 millstone for web developers. If they also remove old Edge at the same time, millions of people lost their browser and don't know why - and the only default one remaining is IE 11. There is a new thing, the hypothetical user who had settled into Edge does need to know, however it got installed.
- 51Cards 6y ago
  I think this was done initially because it was being hijaaked by malware. Malicious applications were getting into systems then changing the default handlers to insert themselves into the system processes.
  - smileybarry 6y ago
    Right, lots of Chromium-based adware browsers would accidentally be installed and set themselves as default, and the user -- who used Chrome until now -- wouldn't suspect anything's different. (Except his search results look a little different)
aasasd 6y ago
> APIs for automatically pinning icons to the Taskbar never existed Well, afaik from 98 to XP it was just ‘put your shortcuts in the Quicklaunch folder’ (dunno about Vista and later). I'm tempted to run Win10 just to see what happened to it in the past decade.
- Kipters 6y ago
  IIRC it changed with Seven's taskbar, which removed the Quick Launch section, basically unifying it with the usual taskbar buttons (similar to how the Dock works in macOS) To be clear, an API for pinning apps now exists[0], but it asks confirmation to the user [0]: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/uwp/design/shell/pin-to-taskbar https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/uwp/design/shell/pi...

smileybarry 6y ago

Setting file handlers are still allowed IIRC but yes, the default browser API doesn't work anymore and pops up a "select a default browser" widget. IIRC no browser currently force-selects a default browser via private API, except for new Edge if you had old Edge as default (since old Edge is uninstalled at the same time).

cptskippy 6y ago
Yeah it seems like Microsoft is playing both sides. On the one hand they want New Edge to just be a new version of Edge if they already use Old Edge, and on the other they want New Edge to be treated as a new browser if you aren't using Old Edge.
- cbo100 6y ago
  That's no different to how Firefox or Chrome would do it if I had an old version of either installed. I.e. If Firefox switched to Chromium I would expect the exact same behaviour "New Firefox" and "Old Firefox" is not a distinction.
  - Dylan16807 6y ago
    You're missing the point, though. You can make a consistent explanation for either side, as you have just done. If it's the same browser, then transferring the default status is correct. If it's a new browser, then asking what should be default is correct. Chredge is doing both, depending on which one advantages them more.
    - im3w1l-alt 6y ago
      Consider this from the perspective of the user's intention. This is the exact behavior I would want if I installed Edge. Saying this as someone who mainly uses firefox and occasionally brave.
      - franga2000 6y ago
        But users didn't install Edge. It installed itself. Yes, writing a special case for just this one situation sounds annoying, but they have a responsibility to their users. If the user didn't install something new, they shouldn't get the popup. That was the deal and MS broke it.
        jodrellblank 6y ago
        Getting updates from Windows Update with everything they include, was also part of the deal. As you say, they have responsibility to their users; If the URL handler was old Edge, and they didn't change it while removing old Edge, the user would have broken internet access and not understand why. That's no good. If the URL handler was updated to quietly move to new Edge, they just swapped out a major piece of software for one which looks and behaves differently, with a different icon, without any introduction or warning or confirmation, which is an awful experience for users. Microsoft get accused of special-casing themselves and their browser, and it breaks the work Microsoft has done for years to stop programs changing file/protocol handlers without confirming it with the user. [see Raymond Chen writing about it here https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20181016-00/?p=99985 https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20181016-00/?p=99... ] If they decide a browser is not part of Windows and you have to install new Edge from the app store yourself, tens of millions of computers are now stuck on the last version of old Edge basically forever - because there's no Windows 11 on the way to replace it - and it becomes the new IE6 millstone for web developers. If they also remove old Edge at the same time, millions of people lost their browser and don't know why - and the only default one remaining is IE 11. There is a new thing, the hypothetical user who had settled into Edge does need to know, however it got installed.
51Cards 6y ago
I think this was done initially because it was being hijaaked by malware. Malicious applications were getting into systems then changing the default handlers to insert themselves into the system processes.
- smileybarry 6y ago
  Right, lots of Chromium-based adware browsers would accidentally be installed and set themselves as default, and the user -- who used Chrome until now -- wouldn't suspect anything's different. (Except his search results look a little different)

aasasd 6y ago

> APIs for automatically pinning icons to the Taskbar never existed Well, afaik from 98 to XP it was just ‘put your shortcuts in the Quicklaunch folder’ (dunno about Vista and later). I'm tempted to run Win10 just to see what happened to it in the past decade.

Kipters 6y ago
IIRC it changed with Seven's taskbar, which removed the Quick Launch section, basically unifying it with the usual taskbar buttons (similar to how the Dock works in macOS) To be clear, an API for pinning apps now exists[0], but it asks confirmation to the user [0]: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/uwp/design/shell/pin-to-taskbar https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/uwp/design/shell/pi...