Mozilla says Microsoft has not addressed most of the browser-choice practices highlighted in an independent report commissioned by the Firefox maker, arguing that Windows users outside the European Economic Area still face prompts and product designs that favor Edge.
The company published its assessment on the event date of October 8, 2026, 100 days after releasing “Over The Edge 2.0.” That report, prepared by deceptive-design researchers Harry Brignull and Cennydd Bowles, examined how Windows, Edge, Bing and Copilot can influence which browser people use.
Mozilla said it shared the findings with Microsoft and discussed the issues with the company. In its follow-up, Mozilla said most patterns documented in 2024 remain and that newer surfaces, including Copilot and the transition to Windows 11, create additional routes for directing users toward Microsoft’s browser.
The criticism is significant because browser selection affects more than a default application. Browsers increasingly act as gateways to artificial-intelligence services, while also handling privacy and security controls. A platform owner’s ability to promote its own browser can therefore shape which services users encounter and which protections are applied.
Mozilla contrasted the experience outside Europe with Windows behavior in the EEA, where the European Union’s Digital Markets Act has required changes. It said Microsoft has already demonstrated that fairer browser-choice designs are technically possible because some are available to European users. Mozilla wants those designs extended globally and also wants remaining practices in Europe changed.
The post framed the differences as a regulatory issue, saying legal obligations have produced changes that voluntary discussions did not. Mozilla said it is taking the report’s findings to policymakers and regulators in the United States, United Kingdom, India and Brazil, among other places.
The evidence supplied for this article consists of Mozilla’s own account and its summary of the commissioned research. It establishes the organization’s findings and advocacy position, but does not include a fresh Microsoft response. Accordingly, the allegations should be understood as Mozilla’s assessment rather than an independently adjudicated conclusion.
Mozilla’s central request is straightforward: make the more choice-friendly Windows experience available regardless of a user’s location. The company says it will continue publicizing the issue while regional differences remain.
The dispute also illustrates how regional technology regulation can create visibly different versions of the same mass-market operating system. For users, that can determine whether a chosen default is respected consistently across search, assistant and system interfaces. For competing browser makers, it affects access to audiences on a platform distributed at enormous scale. Mozilla’s follow-up turns those product details into a broader test of whether competitive safeguards should depend on geography.
