After the protest, Microsoft presses pause on unsolicited installations of Windows 10 web applications

On Saturday, I pointed out how Microsoft forcing Windows 10 computers to restart to install unwanted web apps was the latest proof that you don’t have your own Windows PC. Today, the company says it was at least partly a mistake, and it will stop the “migration” that brought web applications to its start menu in this way.

Originally, Microsoft says The edge, the idea was that any website you pinned to the Start menu would open in Microsoft Edge. If the website of your choice had a version of the PWA web application, the Edge browser could also launch it automatically. But, in what Microsoft seems to be calling an error, although we are trying to clarify which part was the error, the change also made it appear that existing web shortcuts to your own Microsoft Office products had installed a web application on your PC. too.

Screenshot: Sean Hollister / The Verge

Giving Microsoft the benefit of the doubt for a moment, I can see how that chain of events could have played out and why that could have been an unintended consequence.

But that doesn’t really address any of my concerns above:

• Why was Microsoft using my start menu as free advertising for its Office products to get started, with direct access to the web or not?
• Why do these PWAs activate Microsoft Edge, instead of respecting my own default browser choice? Chrome handles PWAs well, for example.
• Why does Microsoft think it has the right to force restart my PC? What was so important in this update to make it worthwhile?

Microsoft has clearly heard some disgust, and is reacting to that today. But it is unclear if anything will change as a result. I wouldn’t be surprised if the only difference is that PWAs won’t appear on your show list from now on.