Microsoft wants changing default apps in Windows to be less of a mess

Enlarge (credit: Aurich Lawson / Ars Technica)

One of the enduring legacies of the '90s browser wars has been an outsize attention to how Microsoft handles default app settings in Windows, especially browser settings. The company is planning to make it more straightforward to change your app defaults in future versions of Windows 11, according to a new blog post that outlines a "principled approach to app pinning and app defaults in Windows."

The company's principled approach is a combination of broad, vague platitudes ("we will ensure people who use Windows are in control of changes to their pins and their defaults") and new developer features. A future version of Windows 11 will offer a consistent "deep link URI" for apps so they can send users to the right place in the Settings app for changing app defaults. Microsoft will also add a pop-up notification that should be used when newly installed apps want to pin themselves to your Taskbar, rather than either pinning themselves by default or getting lost somewhere in your Start menu.

The new Settings URI is designed to replace default app workflows like this one from Adobe Reader, which opens an old-school Windows 95-style Properties window instead of the Settings app. (credit: Andrew Cunningham)

These new features will be added to Windows "in the coming months," starting in the Dev channel Windows Insider Preview builds.

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