Mozilla Accuses Microsoft of Sabotaging Firefox With Windows and Copilot Tactics (nerds.xyz)
- Reference: 0181501460
- News link: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/26/04/09/2043257/mozilla-accuses-microsoft-of-sabotaging-firefox-with-windows-and-copilot-tactics
- Source link: https://nerds.xyz/2026/04/mozilla-microsoft-firefox-copilot-windows/
> Mozilla is [2]accusing Microsoft of stacking the deck against Firefox, arguing that design choices in Windows [3]steer users toward Edge even when they explicitly choose another browser . According to Mozilla, parts of Windows still open links in Edge regardless of the default browser setting, including results from the taskbar search and links launched from apps like Outlook and Teams. Mozilla says this means Firefox often never even gets the opportunity to handle those links, which quietly shifts user activity back into Microsoft's ecosystem.
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> The company also points to Microsoft's aggressive rollout of Copilot as another example of platform power being used to push Microsoft services. Copilot appeared pinned to the taskbar, arrived automatically on many systems with Microsoft 365, and even received a dedicated keyboard key on some laptops. Mozilla argues that when the maker of the dominant desktop operating system promotes its own browser and AI tools at the system level, it becomes far harder for independent browsers like Firefox to compete.
[1] https://slashdot.org/~BrianFagioli
[2] https://blog.mozilla.org/en/mozilla/ai/microsoft-copilot-ai-user-choice/
[3] https://nerds.xyz/2026/04/mozilla-microsoft-firefox-copilot-windows/
Consent Decree Expired for Microsodt (Score:5, Informative)
Don't you know that the consent decree and the memorandum of understanding from the previous antitrust lawsuits with the Department of Justice (DOJ) expired for Microsoft?
They do the same thing every decade with their lock-in OS and features line OneDrive and Copilot. Every single time.
I'm other news, the sky is blue and water is wet.
Re: (Score:2)
While the pattern is the same the world has in fact changed a bit. Consumers generally expect things integrated. OSes need to include browsers, it's expected cloud storage to be included (an Apple innovation with iCloud closely followed by Google with Drive), and lets face it Microsoft was completely late to the party for any attempt to integrate an assistant at an OS level, they just slapped AI on it.
I suspect courts would not find these things anti-competitive in today's world. It's the unexpected bullshi
This old song again? (Score:1)
Okay, I'm gonna pretend I don't know anything about downloading and installing a browser and just go the Microsoft Store and search for "Firefox". Yup, it's there. Now, I'll try for Google Chrome. How odd, it isn't available.
Surely the browser that you can't even get from Microsoft's app store would have less market share, right? Nope, according to the data, Chrome is still on top, despite the fact that you have to manually download and install it on Windows.
I doubt this occurred to Mozilla, but perhaps
Re: (Score:2)
A lot of PCs come with Chrome pre-installed, and Google pushes Chrome on the most visited website on the planet.
Re: (Score:2)
I've never seen a PC with Chrome preinstalled. Not saying there is no such thing, but it definitely didn't come from Dell or HP.
But it is virtually impossible to visit Google without Chrome and not get assaulted by Chrome download offers.
Re: (Score:3)
Which pretty much points to Google being the actual competitor who is behaving in an anti-competitive fashion. However, as Google is their main source of revenue, [1]Mozilla realistically can't bite the hand that feeds it. [theregister.com]
[1] https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/12/mozilla_doj_google_search_payments/
Re: (Score:2)
Microsoft didn't pay the "sponsor poor Mozilla" ransom and now Mozilla is crying about it.
What Is their Point? (Score:2)
Accuse all you like. Launch a DOJ investigation and find them guilty of anti-competitive and monopolistic behavior. What's the outcome? FUCK ALL! That's what.
Mozilla needs to build a better browser than this Chromium shit. Nothing else will matter, if even that is enough.
To be fair (Score:4, Insightful)
I am certain Microsoft sabotaged their own products way more than anything else with their CoPilot shenanigans.
Microslop is guilty (Score:3)
Microslop is so guilty in this regard. Outlook has an option buried in the settings regarding whether to open web links in Edge or the user's preferred globally set default browser. Guess which setting is the default! When you go to the Google Chrome website, Edge both shows a popup and injects an ad over and into the site begging people to stick with Edge instead. Mozilla is also right about it's complaint; many things in Windows just open Edge and ignore the default browser. It's so blatantly illegal monopolistic behavior.
OK (Score:2)
so why don't they file a competition complaint?
It is after all illegal to leverage a monopoly position to get another.
Chrome does the same thing. (Score:2)
Install a PWA using chrome on Ubuntu, and in that PWA, follow a link - it opens in chrome even if your default browser is FF.
I can't wait for FG to finish their implementation of PWAs...
Re: (Score:2)
Perhaps the installation of the PWA hard codes a call to the browser that installed it. Try installing it using FireFox.
Can't help themselves (Score:1)
Microsoft just loves paying antitrust fines to the EU.
Just noticing this? (Score:2)
I've been complaining about that since the first time I touched Windows 10.
In the meantime, use MSEdgeRedirect (Score:2)
[1]https://github.com/rcmaehl/MSE... [github.com]
A Tool to Redirect News, Search, Widgets, Weather, and More to Your Default Browser
This tool filters and passes the command line arguments of Microsoft Edge processes into your default browser instead of hooking into the microsoft-edge: handler, this should provide resiliency against future changes. Additionally, an Image File Execution Options mode is available to operate similarly to the Old EdgeDeflector. Additional modes are planned for future versions.
No Default App wal
[1] https://github.com/rcmaehl/MSEdgeRedirect
performance (Score:2)
Something I've noticed is - being forced to use Azure and O365 at work - the experience in firefox is horrendous. Laggy, sign-in looping, it's just awful. Even in azure - activate subscription, and usually even 10 minutes later I still have no access to resources. If I do the same thing in chromium it usually happens right away. Maybe just optimised for chromium browsers (?), and maybe it doesn't like my extensions, but it's a massive difference - anyone else see this?
30 years on and the battle still rages... (Score:2)
OK so it was Netscape back then.
Wait so you expect me to believe (Score:5, Interesting)
That a fine upstanding company like Microsoft would engage in potentially anti-competitive behavior? Perish the thought. Quick fetch me my fainting goats!
On a more serious note elections have consequences. If you like having choices when it comes to software 45 years of zero antitrust law enforcement is one hell of a consequence.
Re: (Score:1)
If you think that's something, wait until you see what Apple's gotten away with on iOS.
Re: (Score:3)
Yeah but iOS has something like 30% market share ... vs. Windows, which still has something like 70%.
Monopolistic practices are far more effective the closer you get to actually having a monopoly.
Re: (Score:2)
iOS has that marketshare now because countries other than the USA (in the Asian zone and Eurozone) caught Apple doing monopolistic things and acted to stop it early.
Re:Wait so you expect me to believe (Score:5, Interesting)
Actually, when mobile devices are thrown into the mix, the OS market share breaks down like [1]this: [wikipedia.org]
> As of December 2025, Android, which uses the Linux kernel, is the world's most popular operating system with 38.94% of the global market, followed by Windows with 29.99%, iOS with 15.66%, macOS with 2.14%, and other operating systems with 10.78%.
Microsoft may still command the lion's share of OS installations in the PC desktop market, but the PC desktop market is now a minority portion of the installed computing base. The question Mozilla should be asking is why aren't people using Firefox on Android.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usage_share_of_operating_systems
Re: (Score:2)
Have you ever used Firefox on Android?
If you had, you'd know why people don't.
Re: (Score:2)
I use Firefox on Android as my main mobile browser. It's fine. A bit slower than Chrome, but I'll put up with that to avoid Google spyware. (Though... being on Android, maybe I've lost already. Still, don't want to make it easier than it has to be.)
Re: (Score:2)
Indeed I do, with ad blockers because with firefox you can.
Re:Wait so you expect me to believe (Score:5, Funny)
Wait. You say Microsoft is doing the same thing they've done a dozen times before, again? I'm shocked, I say. Shocked.
........ well, not that shocked.
Re: (Score:2)
That is an insultingly accurate stereotype sir!
Re: (Score:1)
I'd feel worse about this if Mozilla wasn't such a dumpster fire. Even if Microsoft did nothing wrong it still doesn't help that for the past 10 years Mozilla was essentially propped up by Google cash so it would make Google not look like a monopoly. Pretty sure they had plenty of money and runway to be relevant. Maybe Microsoft should have paid the ransom to "sponsor" them and we wouldn't be seeing this article.
Re: (Score:2)
They keep asking people "Don't you want to use Edge instead of Chrome?" too.