'Edge avoidance function' of browsers such as Firefox is finally blocked in Windows 11

In Windows, some links are set to launch in the Microsoft browser 'Microsoft Edge' regardless of the default browser setting. For this reason, free software was developed to avoid booting in Edge, and browsers such as Firefox and Brave implemented Edge avoidance function, but these functions were blocked by Windows Update in December 2021. It turned out that it was.

Windows 11 Officially Shuts Down Firefox's Default Browser Workaround
https://www.howtogeek.com/774542/windows-11-officially-shuts-down-firefoxs-default-browser-workaround/

In Windows, the links shown by the voice assistant Cortana and some of the links in the Windows settings and help screens will start 'Microsoft Edge' regardless of the default browser settings. This is because the link starts with 'microsoft-edge: https: //'.

In 2017, software engineer Daniel Alexandersen developed the free software EdgeDeflector to allow links to be opened in any browser such as Firefox or Brave instead of Microsoft Edge. EdgeDeflector has become a popular app with 500,000 users, and Firefox and Brave later released similar functions to EdgeDeflector, which shows the great demand for this function.

However, from Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22494 delivered on November 4, Edge Deflector has stopped working because the program that handles 'microsoft-edge:' can no longer be set to other than Edge. ..

It turns out that 'Tips to avoid Edge forcing' are crushed in Windows 11 --GIGAZINE

by Dennis Sylvester Hurd

And in the Windows Update delivered on December 15, 2021, it was confirmed that EdgeDeflector was officially blocked. With the December update, the above block was done not only on Windows 11 but also on Windows 10. Also, Firefox and Brave, which used the same mechanism, can no longer use the Edge avoidance function.

Today is the monthly 'Windows Update' day-GIGAZINE

Microsoft is focused on 'end-to-end customer experience' in Windows 11, that it is 'inappropriate redirect' for the Edge avoidance features that Firefox has implemented had been expressed . However, Mozilla, the developer of Firefox, argued that 'users should be able to easily set the default state, and the choice of default browser should be respected', and the media also argued. It was also expected that blocking the Edge evasion feature could be discontinued as Microsoft's actions were pointed out as 'anti-competitive'.

In addition, after Microsoft officially blocked the Edge avoidance function, software engineer Robert C. Maehl has released a new Edge avoidance tool 'MS Edge Redirect'.

GitHub --rcmaehl / MSEdgeRedirect: A Tool to Redirect News, Search, Widgets, Weather and More to Your Default Browser
https://github.com/rcmaehl/MSEdgeRedirect

However, unlike Firefox, Brave, and EdgeDefelocot, MSEdgeRedirect requires the software to run in the background. In addition, it is possible that Microsoft will block MSEdgeRedirect in the future.