Windows 10 and Chrome are about to make switching default browsers even less painful

Microsoft lost quite a bit of goodwill by forcing the Microsoft Edge browser on uninterested users — but it looks like those days are nearly at an end. Want a preview of the future? Look no further than this GIF from Leopeva64, who’s got previews of a future version of Google’s Chrome web browser on their machine, alongside the 2H22 update to Windows 10.

As of this March, switching your default browser in Windows 11 had already been improved to take just a few clicks in a settings menu, but you can see how the earlier Windows 10 (with the 22H2 update makes it easier. And with the Chrome update, you can just hit the pop-up in the browser itself (in this case, Chrome Dev version 106.0.5231.2) to set it right away. No need to dive into settings menus at all.

If you add the fact that rival browsers like Firefox and Opera already support the same kind of one-click, in-browser default app switching, we could be entering a new golden age where browsers can actually compete on their merits instead of begging or pushing you around. Just click to switch your browser, as often as you like, till you’ve settled on the one you want.

I wouldn’t count on it, necessarily, as we’ve only seen it demonstrated in Windows 10 so far, and I couldn’t get it to work with my stable build of Windows 11 yet. Also, Microsoft isn’t the only browser manufacturer that’s pushy with prompts.

Windows 11 is also getting its own 22H2 update this this September according to my colleague Tom’s sources, but you’ve been able to install the release preview since June. Chrome Dev is typically nine to 12 weeks ahead of the stable version of Chrome, according to Google’s FAQ.

Correction, 6:34PM ET: It’s Windows 10 that Leopeva64 is demonstrating, not Windows 11 like we originally wrote. We regret the error.