Oh Baker, I’m pissed off by this post.

I am sorry to say this. Maybe it’s a technical GLITCH. Please have it fixed.

At home, I have faithfully and loyally set my default browser to FireFox and my default e-mail client to ThunderBird. On occasion I’ll find a link in my software that launches something different than my defaults. My anti-virus and a couple of my gaming links force IE to open instead of my default (FF). Most of my other programs stick to my default.

At work, we have a choice between IE and FF but our system default is IE since we run some custom programs that require it as default.

I read the link in Lennie’s reply about IE being removed from future windows installations or bundling other browser software with windows. Personally, I would like to see it as a installation choice. Take the new Windows7 for instance. How hard would it be to add one window that asks “Which internet browsers would you like to install” and choose from a list including IE, FF, Opera, etc. then another window asking which one to set as system default browser. The same should be done with e-mail clients (windows live mail, thunderbird, outlook, etc) and office packages (Open Office, Microsoft Office, Corel Word Perfect, etc.).

In short, I agree with everyone else on this community where a default system browser should be a respected choice by software developers and should not force a specific browser upon a user against a user’s will.

@Ken Saunders – I’ve had e-mails about that also. I volunteer as a system administrator in a local gaming community and there have been times where our software was accused of being a virus. I laughed so hard when I got an e-mail about that, that I fell out of my chair, unable to breathe.

-Sincerely,
Stephen D King
Engineering Design Assistant
Heatron Inc.

AccessFirefox.org receives a good amount of requests for help with Firefox despite the very obvious notices stating that the site does not provide Firefox help and support.
Despite 5 changes to the contact page, I had to finally be a little more blunt (but try and do so without being offensive) because I was getting swamped with support requests and I couldn’t keep up with them on my own plus some of the emails were literally verbally abusive and sometimes very vulgar.

The main reason for Access Firefox getting so many support requests is that the contact page is #1 in Google’s search results for contact firefox.

With all of that being said, here is an email that I/the site received yesterday.

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Comments: i installed firefox and now my internet explorer doesnt work..i did not want it to be my primary server,as i wanted to atleast get used to it b4 i decided to do that,,you product took over my computer and im very pissed off about this,i am not very computer illiterate..i want step by step guide of getting my computer back and dont say system restore adding firefox took my last bit of space and didnt leave restore point,,,i remember once b4 this happened but never did the damage it has now,also to tell me to go to internet and go to addons,,i dont get that option…i cannot believ well i can believe that ppl would make a product that just takes over your computer..
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Isn’t that the funniest thing that you’ve read this week?

I did reply thoroughly and provided detailed instructions on how to remove Firefox as her default browser, how to return IE to being the default again and for the future, explained that “After installing and running Firefox for the first time, there is always a notice that asks if you would like to set Firefox as your default browser and you then have the option of not having Firefox set as your default browser”
and,
“…Mozilla Firefox will never automatically set itself as your default web browser without your permission. You cannot even begin to use Firefox until you ok or deny its request to become your default web browser.”
I also provided proper help and support options, told her that learning how to use Firefox isn’t any more difficult than learning any other new application, be patient, seek help, do research, I love Firefox etc etc (none of that is verbatim).

I just thought that this email was quite comical (not necessarily her frustrations) and others might appreciate a good laugh.

Gee, wouldn’t it be great to be able to get free and direct troubleshooting help and support from Microsoft for IE and get a reply in under one day? Can I write to someone to complain about IE knocking off my choice for a web browser every chance that it gets?

Huh, a billion dollar corporation vs a dude wearing a robe sitting in his apartment helping out others one person at a time.
That’s the Mozilla way.
Well, not the robe wearing part.

Users of multi-user Windows XP systems are forced intl a bad situation because the default internet browser is set as a system setting that applies to all all user accounts. If one user decided to change the default internet browser it would affect all user accounts of the Windows XP system.

So, an OS that is mulit-account cannot set the default browser differently. This can lead to a tug of war for default browser status when different users are logged in.

http://arstechnica.com/business/news/2009/03/eu-eases-microsoft-monitoring-disbands-full-time-watchdog.ars