Windows is not unhackable. This one's easy. Deleting all instances of the msedge executable does not break Windows. Don't depend on settings, they're not reliable or comprehensive, and it's far more work to track them all down and maintain their value than it is to simply delete the problem. Some "features" will stop working. The article's example is one of many. Windows will now use your chosen applications if it can, or simply not if the only point was to push Edge.
If you're stuck on Windows and have access to delete things from %programfiles% (and elsewhere), this is a zero risk thing to try! Every update reinstalls Edge, so the next time you have an update queued, delete Edge. If you don't like it, run the update and you're back to Edge Everywhere.
I cannot fathom the number of support requests coming in as soon as some features stop working, in a fleet of hundreds. Dealing with thousands is a great recipe for disaster.
This is precisely what login scripts and GPO is designed for. Most people don't realize Windows is actually primarily designed as a corporate OS, home users are an afterthought. BYOD is a different story, but there are scenarios with thousands of desktops (i.e. VDI) where these kinds of changes are trivial.
It does because if you test your policies and scripts it shouldn't be broken. None of this negates the fact that we shouldn't have to be writing hacks to counteract MS's dark pattern games in the first place.
> It does because if you test your policies and scripts it shouldn't be broken.
Removing Edge, like the previous poster suggested, does break certain features. Also, you seem to suggest that standard Windows deployments are permanently and continuously idempotent, but they definitely are not.
The play is clear. Since this is a potential risky move, very few IT admins will try to remove Edge in the first place.
> Windows deployments are permanently and continuously idempotent, but they definitely are not.
They can be. I've administered large networks personally where they are. If the GP comment would break something that's different, I agree. I'm commenting in the abstract, it is definitely possible to remove files or change the registry at scale. Windows is very good at that.
If you're stuck on Windows and have access to delete things from %programfiles% (and elsewhere), this is a zero risk thing to try! Every update reinstalls Edge, so the next time you have an update queued, delete Edge. If you don't like it, run the update and you're back to Edge Everywhere.