Firefox vs Edge: fresh shots fired in browser wars as Mozilla report accuses Microsoft of using 'harmful design' to undermine choice in Windows 11

A report commissioned by Mozilla accuses Microsoft of using 'harmful design' to undermine browser choice in Windows 11 That allegedly includes trick wording, nagging, preselection, and generally dubious tactics to push Edge over other browsers The report does observe the situation is better in the European Economic Area, due to regulations there, and notes that "regulatory action works", urging authorities elsewhere to take a similar stand Mozilla, the maker of Firefox , has published another report that claims Microsoft isn't maintaining a suitably level playing field for web browsers on Windows, and is unfairly pushing users towards Edge. As Mozilla makes clear, it published the first 'Over the Edge' report – about 'How Microsoft's design tactics compromise free browser choice' – two years back, and the follow-up has just arrived (as spotted by Eteknix ). It's not actually written by Mozilla, I should note, but two independent researchers commissioned by the Firefox maker (Harry Brignull and Cennydd Bowles, the same pair who wrote the first article). It takes in user opinions from the US, UK, India and Germany regarding "key browser-choice journeys" on Windows 11 and 10. In a nutshell, they conclude that: "Microsoft continues to deploy harmful design to undermine people's browser choice." That specifically involves, according to the report: "Trick wording, obstruction, visual interference, preselection, nagging, and forced action — at almost every step of the user journey." Some of the worst excesses highlighted are the pop-up banner that Edge users see when they go to the Chrome download page (trying to get them to stick with the Microsoft browser, which, it says, has the same tech as Chrome but with the "added trust of Microsoft"), and nagging within Windows around using Edge as the default browser in one way or another. The report also notes how Edge is pre-pinned to the Windows taskbar, and how a migration from Windows 10 to Windows 11 resets Edge as the defau