Nightmare of Setting Default Apps on Windows

Setting default apps on Windows is unnecessarily complicated. One of the areas where concern about default application is popular is with web browsers. The first task that anybody has when setting up a new Windows machine is to download their preferred browser using the default Windows browser. To a large extend and perhaps thanks to previous legal tussles around browser bundling in Windows, it is relatively straight forward to change your default browser.

Windows is a dominant operating system but this does not mean that Microsoft produces the best in class of software for every conceivable use of a personal computer. Yes, Windows does provide rudimentary support for most use cases but not everyone really wants to get stuck with the out of the box offering.

An area that does not receive nearly enough attention is the kind of media player a typical Windows user would prefer. I would guess that for people to whom media play back is important, the default media player is not their first option. This gets more interesting when there is a seemingly unusual desire to have the default for audio play back be different from video play back. I am guilty of having different default applications for audio and video playback.

When am playing audio, I like the ability to have immediate and quick access to the audio library so that I can compose a playlist on the fly or choose to lookup meta that of the tracks on the now playing list. Video play back on the other hand is largely hands off; start the media and sit back and enjoy it; the video takes center stage and there is no need to interact with it for a relative long amount of time compared to the typical duration of an audio track.

Though not severe, another annoyance also occurs when configuring the default application to read PDF files. It is not severe because it is just one file extension and switching cannot be that complex. However it becomes problematic when you compare the process of configuring default office productivity software. In this area Microsoft Office file formats are dominant and there are a number of them.

With the increasing shift to cloud offering, it is often smart to have a program that can handle Office files offline. The choke point here is the need for a constant internet connection and of course the cost/benefit of paying subscription in order to have access to Microsoft Office offline desktop application. It ultimately depends on how much use you get out of productivity software. I have opted to install LibreOffice as a fall back for handling office file formats without a need for constant internet connection.

Current Approach to Setting Default Applications

The current approach to setting the default application is to go file by file from the Settings app. There seems to be no way for your chosen application to set itself up as the default program. For example, I prefer to use MP-HC as default video playback program; MP-HC has a nifty feature that allows me to select only the video formats that it supports and choose to have it set as the default application. However, this will not be honored by Windows until and unless I also setup the relevant file formats in the Settings App or choose which program to use for the playback at the time of double clicking the file.

It leads to a unique kind of frustration where a file format may have any number of extensions associated with it. For example, .doc, docx, .dotm etc. are Word file extensions; now consider that similar permutations exists for other Office applications, the per file extension approach is overly manual and time consuming.

Media file format are arguably notorious for the proliferation of file extensions. It is tempting to talk about the underlying politics of media file formats, but it is too complicated a topic to mention superficially. Depending on your views on copyright and general fairness of paying royalties on file formats, you end up with zoo of media file formats that we have today.

Why the Complicated User Experience

You have to wonder why Microsoft would allow such atrocious user experience to persist. It is important to acknowledge that it is a relatively difficult problem to solve but it is increasing looking like it is not be actively addressed. The other seeming explanation is that it is part of the migration from the Control Panel to Settings App.

The simple power of inertia may be at play here. Consider that Microsoft is very knowledgeable about the power and influence of the default. Looking back in history, that is the tactic used against Netscape to make Internet Explorer (IE) dominant. Making it difficult to change the default could help IE’s successor gain a foothold. Of course the browser wars are long gone but it would be naive to think that repeat is not possible. Perhaps this is why some effort when into making it easier to change your browser as compared to changing other applications.

Edge is an interesting case to consider given that it is the default browser but it would myopic to consider that it is the only consideration at play. It is also the default application to handle PDF and epub files. A PDF viewer in the browser makes some amount of sense since it provide a convenient way to look at PDF file you may come across in the process of browsing. However, I would not open a multiple page research paper whose reading may span multiple hours, across multiple days.

Making it more difficult to completely and competently switch default applications means that once in a while you will be reminded of Microsoft defaults even when they are not the best in class. This is the scenario playing out with the new Media Player.

Conclusion

It is my sincere hope this is a matter that Microsoft intends to address because the sheer number of users affected is staggering. Yes, regulators at the EU may choose to look at the issue but ultimately it will end up being addressed for the EU market largely.

Possible solution would be to make it possible to automate the process. This will make it easy to assign multiple file extensions to a single default program. The argument must be made that regardless of any plans to gain market share, it remains fundamentally a horrible user experience to set default apps on Windows. This means that this particular user experience in the Settings App is not being addressed.

References/Interesting Links

• LibreOffice
• MPC-HC