Windows Mail Links May Soon Open Only in Microsoft Edge; Being Tested in Windows 10 Preview

Microsoft on Friday announced the latest Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 17623 for Windows Insiders. While the build brings certain major upgrades such as support for HEIF (High Efficiency Image File Format) and WDAG (Windows Defender Application Guard) improvements, there is a rather interesting update in the General changes tab. Microsoft revealed it would soon start "testing a change where links clicked on within the Windows Mail app will open in Microsoft Edge." This implies that external links in Windows Mail will redirect to Edge irrespective of the default browser on the PC.

The Redmond giant, in the blog post, claims that this change will be put into place because Microsoft Edge offers "the best, most secure and consistent experience on Windows 10." Links for users with default browsers set to Chrome, Firefox, etc., will instead open up in Edge - a move that will end up disrupting a clutter-free experience.

Talking about other major features in Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 17623, Windows 10 and the native Photos app are getting support for HEIF image format. Users need to join the Windows App Preview Program and should be running March release of the Photos app (version 2018.18022.13740.0 or newer) to make use of the update. HEIF formats can be tried out with thumbnails and metadata in File Explorer as well.

Apart from that, the new Insider Build brings a new "safe remove experience" for external GPUs connected to Thunderbolt 3 ports. It alerts users about running applications on the external GPUs to avoid losing data during disconnection. Improvements to WDAG include faster load times and added download capabilities. The new Windows 10 preview build also has a new privacy settings layout in the set up experience.

Considering this is not a stable Windows 10 build, it has its fair share of bugs. For instance, Microsoft states that Emoji Panel keyboard shortcuts will not work and users will need to use the touch keyboard instead to input emoji characters.