Set Program Access and Defaults

The Microsoft Windows, Non-Microsoft, and Custom selections allow users to select their default middleware. A part of the Add or Remove Programs Control Panel, the dialog box enables users to choose which software displays on the Start menu and in desktop shortcuts and responds to activation of specific file types for several “client types” (e.g., Web browser or media player). The user can choose among three options:

Microsoft Windows, which allows the user to set the Microsoft middleware programs (Internet Explorer, Outlook Express, Windows Media Player, Windows Messenger, and the Microsoft Java Virtual Machine) as his defaults. This means that these programs will be used whenever an appropriate file type is selected or downloaded, and that they will appear on the desktop and Start menu.

Non-Microsoft, which allows the user to set third-party supplied middleware programs as his defaults, provided that the publisher of each piece of middleware has made it available by associating it with the specific client types through the creation of the appropriate entries for the middleware in the Windows Registry. (Microsoft has defined the following client types for this feature: browser, e-mail, media playback, instant messaging, or virtual machine for Java; for more details, see the link to the MSDN site in the Resources section of the associated article). Typically, users will use this setting to block all the Microsoft middleware programs in favor of third-party alternatives.