New to Mac / Switcher Tips: How to Change the Default Browser
This one is one of the most annoying things about OS X. They no longer have a control panel in System Preferences that lets you change your default browser. Instead, they moved this Preference into Safari. Makes sense, right? Yeah, I don’t get it either. Anyway, to switch your default browser, launch Safari, go to Safari—>Preferences, and under the General tab, you will see a drop down menu where you can set your default web browser.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
adrian said 4:19PM on 6-16-2005
It is indeed quite annoying that the default browser can only be changed through Safari's preferences. I deleted Safari before realizing this, so how am I supposed to do now ? The thought of having to download a new copy of Safari _just_ to change my preference away from it makes me want to hit my mac. Does anybody know where in the local user directory (somewhere in $HOME/Library/ I guess) the information is actually stored ?
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zadig said 4:15PM on 6-16-2005
Tossing the InternetConfig utility (and its associated control panel) from OS 9 is one of the stupider decisions Apple made with OS X. How much development time could it possibly take to add a pane to the Network control panel in OS X that lets you configure this stuff?
Hiding it inside of each application is a usability nightmare, and they don't have too many of those. And from the rumors, it's still hard to change in Tiger, but I hope those rumors are wrong. Anyone know?
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Pedro said 4:15PM on 6-16-2005
Well when you think about it... you should be using Safari in the first place.
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arkowi said 4:15PM on 6-16-2005
While I agree the placement of the internet control pane is a little odd, I don't see why it is that annoying. I mean, how frequently do you need to change your defualt browser?
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arkowi said 4:15PM on 6-16-2005
pedro:
variety is the spice of life.
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Brian said 4:15PM on 6-16-2005
I've been wondering this for a while, but been too lazy to look for the setting. I was getting tired of links from Thunderbird opening in Safari instead of Firefox.
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Shig said 11:49AM on 7-06-2005
While we're at it, is there a similarly obscure window for changing the default FTP client? Right now mine is set to an old unregistered app I used to use, instead of my spiffy new registered one. Very annoying.
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Erik Weibust said 4:15PM on 6-16-2005
Its annoying because it's not right! Its Apple (acting like Microsoft) forcing you to open their browser to switch to another browser. Its wrong! Their is no reason for that option to be there vs in System Preferences.
Sorry for going off, but that is my one hot button, and it just got pushed...
Erik
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Carl Johnson said 4:15PM on 6-16-2005
I think that Apple was right to move the preference for default browser into Safari-- and I think that every other browser should follow their lead. There are too many different kinds of protocols (mail, IM, ftp, realplayer stream, windows media stream, etc., etc.) for Apple to put a preference for each of them in the internet panel. Instead it makes more sense for each application to handle it in its own preference panel.
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Jan? R?lom said 4:15PM on 6-16-2005
Yes, this is a really stupid omission from OS/X. However there is a thirdparty preference pane that can solve this problem (and other applications) and it is freeware:
http://www.rubicode.com/Software/RCDefaultApp/
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Bryan Webster said 4:15PM on 6-16-2005
who would want to switch from safari anyway?
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