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I installed IE8 on Thursday on a windows box and was dismayed to discover the easy setup path would set it as my default browser despite Firefox already configured as such.
Is this really how it works? I haven’t seen anyone else mention this aspect.
The installer respects your previously set default search engine in IE, but doesn’t do so for the system browser. It’s true that Firefox and other browsers prompt the user to make the browser the default, but they don’t bulk up that setting with a complex setup of additional features.
Is this reasonable?
UPDATE: Microsoft has updated the install and pulled the default browser selection out of the express path. Thanks for doing the right thing MSFT.
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Soon they will start rolling IE8 via Windows Update. I afraid they will change the default browser for every user who have Windows Update configured for automatic updates.
In case this will happen, I suggest to file yet another lawsuit against Microsoft.
When running the installer with an existing installation of IE8 RC2 it didn’t even give any options for the “update” it became that took 9 minutes involving 2 reboots and automatically set itself as the default browser.
It’s Microsoft. Reasonable doesn’t play into it.
That said, it’s easy to revert.
I didn’t even get a window like that.
Yep, I’m afraid that’s how it works. The IE8 installation must have broken some record for complicated or tedious installations.
I’m not sure why it wouldn’t be reasonable. An average user who’s happy with Firefox won’t download and install IE8 in the first place, I suppose (as long as it doesn’t come with the Windows update). And if an advanced user installs IE8 just to give it a try, using the express settings seems misguided.
I’d agree with Dao’s comment: if IE8 via Windows Update did this by default that seems unreasonable, but if an explicit installation of IE8 does this by default that seems perfectly normal.
I’d expect Firefox to do the same. The same argument applies the other way around: people install Firefox because they want to use it, and if you ask the question separately some people will say no, so don’t ask it separately.
Also, for some reason, clicking on the screenshot to go to flickr for a larger version prompts me to log in because of SafeSearch; have you marked the photo as unsafe for some reason?
If you’re installing, is seems reasonable to me to assume that the user would want IE as default. Especially if they’re installing and running the “quick setup”. If you’re installing through auto-update it might be a different issue, but typically all these questions are asked at first run after one of those updates.
The tickbox was checked by default in the firefox installer last time I checked… At least this way some action is needed to be taken.
> “The installer respects your previously set default search engine in IE, but doesn’t do so for the system browser”
There is no way of knowing what the “system default search engine” is because there is no such thing - it would need code the extract that setting from a gazlilion versions of old browsers.
“I installed IE8 on Thursday on a windows box and was dismayed to discover the easy setup path would set it as my default browser despite Firefox already configured as such.
Is this really how it works?”
It’s what Firefox does.
As Samuel says, this is what Firefox does. It’s also what Google Chrome does, and what (I believe) older versions of IE do. Less sure about other browsers.
This is not a case of Microsoft being different.
Thanks for the commentary folks. My main beef is that the preference switch is buried deeper than I recall in competitive installs.
Also agree that windows update switching this would be a much bigger issue.
Every browser on Windows asks if you want it to use it by default, either during the installation or at the start of the first run.
This is equivalent to starting the first date with “will you marry me?”. So, in principle, it’s absolutely stupid.
But: try setting IE (or anything else) as your default browser and then running Firefox. It prompts on startup *every time*, and the default choice is to hand the gig over to Firefox. (Yes, there’s a setting to disable the check.)
Non-geek users won’t explore the Preferences and will be frustrated when their old browser appears unexpectedly. So it’s reasonable to prompt.
The best time to do so would probably be when *closing* the browser for the first time. Or perhaps by opening a non-focus–stealing dialogue behind the main window after using the browser for a little while.
But I think asking once during the installation is entirely reasonable.
>> There is no way of knowing what the “system default search engine”
Agreed, I’m talking about the IE search setting. IE has a default search engine setting. This is preserved with the IE upgrade.
>> “It’s what Firefox does.”
Worse … FF sets the browser to be default during setup, and intentionally diminishes that information (moving it away from all other dialog text). FF3 was the first browser to do this during setup, and snuck in the functionality in RC1.