New Windows driver blocks software from changing default web browser

The most charitable explanation I could come up with for this is that many Microsoft-owned 1st party code paths try to change the default browser to Edge, and Microsoft can’t find them all.<p>So instead for compliance the compliance team makes it so all the existing Microsoft code to edit the setting doesn’t work any more and only the code owned by compliance team can edit the setting.<p>This has the “unfortunate” side effect of also breaking 3rd party code that edits the setting.

The proposed reason is nuts. It would basically be Microsoft saying &quot;we set so many random flags to change the default browser to Edge, it was easier to comply with the law by hard locking the ability to change the default browser than to go through and remove them all.&quot;

Do the malware engineers at Microsoft take comfort in what they ship in every new update and advertising push from up above?

&gt; <i>Kolbicz believes this change may be to comply with Europe&#x27;s Digital Markets Act (DMA), which aims to ensure fair competition and the prevention of anti-competitive practices by six large companies, known as &quot;gatekeepers.&quot; These designated gatekeepers are Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, ByteDance, Meta, and Microsoft, who had until March to comply with the new regulations.</i><p>So, they comply with the act by... increasing the gatekeeping? I&#x27;m a bit confused TBH...