Do you remember the first time you used the web search feature in the Windows Start menu? I do; I entered what I wanted to search for, hit Enter, saw that it opened my query as a Bing search in Microsoft Edge, realised I couldn't change that regardless of how I set up my default browser, then promptly never used it again. Okay, that's a half-truth; I did use it, but only when I'd go to launch an app, misspell it, and end up asking Windows to open up Edge and search for it via Bing. Thanks, Windows.

Well, if some newly-added Windows flags are anything to go by, this may soon be a thing of the past. Microsoft has reportedly added some new variables that seem like they'll let you set up your default browser and search engine for when you use tools like the Start menu search. Finally.

Microsoft may finally let us use Google in Windows 11's Start menu search

As spotted by Windows Latest, Microsoft has just pushed a new update to its own browser, Edge. Windows Latest cracked open Edge's code and took a peek inside, and it found the following variables hidden within:

msEdgeSearchboxHandlerSendsFaviconData

msExplicitLaunchNonBingDSE

msExplicitLaunchNonBingDSEAndNonEdgeDB

msExplicitLaunchNonEdgeDB

msSettingsMatchWordStart

msWSBLaunchNonBingDSE

msWSBLaunchNonBingDSEAndNonEdgeDB

msWSBLaunchNonEdgeDB

So that's a whole bunch of words, but what do they mean? Well, Windows Latest believes that "DB" stands for "default browser." "WSB" may refer to the "Windows Search Bar," and "DSE" may be "default search engine." When you look at it that way, "msExplicitLaunchNonBingDSEAndNonEdgeDB" refers to something launching while Bing is not set as the default search engine, and Edge isn't the default browser. Similarly, "msWSBLaunchNonBingDSE" would refer to someone searching for something in the Windows Search Bar while Bing isn't the default search engine.

Sure enough, Windows Latest activated these flags and gave them a try, and it turns out that they do exactly what they claim to do. If this is all true, then we may finally see the end of what, personally, is the worst thing about the Windows Start search bar. Until then, I'll have to keep making Microsoft confused as to why I only use the Windows Start Menu search tool to look up "gogle chrom" on Bing.

At any rate, if this update does officially roll out, I know one person who will be very pleased. Recently, one of our editors listed five things that need fixing with Windows, and the Search bar was ranked second.