“Microsoft forced to stop forcing Windows 11 users into Edge in EU countries”, would be a more descriptive title.
But the multinational hyper-conglomerates are our friends and the most efficient use of capital!
Can they do the same for Google recommending Chrome?
At least google sites recommending Chrome are free to use. Microsoft is forcing is it’s useless browser to an audience via an OS. Which they paid for. Two huge no-no’s.
MS should just quit the facade and make it free.
I mean it more or less already is. I’m running an unregistered W10 Pro and the “activate license” thing only comes up occasionally.
I heard from an acquaintance of mine that works for MS that they really don’t care if you pay for their software. As long as you’re using it, they know you’re locked into their environment.
Hell, you can download an install ISO off their website directly, and you can install and run it without a license key.
Yeah I think that much is really apparent. I use AtlasOS when I absolutely need to use Windows.
Yes, they are doing both. The list of entities covered by the DMA dropped today.
This. Current title is misleading.
God bless EU
Nah thanks, we’re lucky to be mostly secular.
You can have both. For instance Denmark is among the least religious countries in the world, and at the same time among of the most blessed.
That’s a fine arrangement we’ve got IMO.
Most blessed how? It sucks here.
Most blessed how?
High living standard, low on threats like naturtal disasters and plenty food including Bacon and Beer. Low crime, high on all kinds of life quality/satisfaction indexes that I know of, among the lowest on corruption and poverty. One of the highest ranking on democracy and freedom of speech.
It sucks here.
Maybe for you, for the majority obviously not.
People only like it here because they are mindless drones that blindly worship the system and hold the opinions that the government wants them to. It’s lame.
Funny you are saying that, at a time where the government is more unpopular than it has been in a long time. It’s unpopular on both the left and right, and even among members of the government parties. Sorry if it offends, but you sound a bit like maybe you’re in a dark place. Or maybe you are just trolling IDK.
No, you are just living in unicorn and rainbow land. Denmark has a very close-minded and ignorant culture. People that have opinions that differ from the norm are labeled as “weird” or just simply cut off socially. Also, no matter what you say about the “government being unpopular”, Danes still blindly worship and defend ridiculous socialism and money-wasting policies in the name of environmentalism or the likes. Your response to my comments just goes to prove my point.
it sucks more everywhere else
Microsoft Edge is the true religion
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It’s not perfect by any means, but I’m glad to have it and can’t think of any other political organisation doing more “good”.
The ratio of helpful/shit behavior is not great, but we do have both.
It’s a mixture… forcing companies into roaming agreements, mandating USB C, CCS2, stuff like that.
Then they propose laws to effectively ban end to end encryption.
Yes, but on the other hand, sometimes too much, with all the spying laws they wan to push every semester.
In a case like this, I think they’re mainly worried that the dominance of [insert company] from [insert country] is getting too big.
But they was slapping apple for usb C too. They’re doing something right over there.
The huge difference between FTC and EC in terms of the mandate of their operation. Whereas the Sherman Law and FTC are operating with aim to protect customers’ rights or something like that, EC anti-monopoly law is oriented just on that: fighting anti-competitive behaviour. The problem is IMHO that “customer rights” is so flexible term, that (with good support in the campaign contributions, I am sure) it is easy to persuade FTC that almost anything you do is perfectly nice. EC’s anti-monopoly mandate is on the other hand rather strict and inflexible.
Especially when you hire a former Verizon lawyer as head of the FTC, and they do their best to dismantle it from the inside, and then the next person you hire needs to spend a bunch of their time rebuilding what was torn down.
EU does seem to be on the forefront when it comes to user rights. It’s always nice to see them not just grazing over the issues
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Hard to say but in the end my life quality is waaaaaay better after EU accession.
confirmed
now do the rest of the world.
That’s nice for the EU folks, elsewhere Microsoft has doubled down on this practice.
If I were on a court or jury, I would rule that repeatedly showing an annoying pop up until you press Agree, doesn’t count as actual acceptance of the terms, I don’t care what the rules are but fuck that practice.
I’ve just doubled down on not using Microsoft tbh. I shouldn’t have to spend so much time and effort cleaning a clean install of an OS. And have updates change things so they don’t work the same or at all any more, or you just can’t find them. Fuck that.
Didn’t this all get decided legally like two decades ago when Microsoft tried to do the same kind of thing with internet Explorer?
how do I set my version to European
better question is, how do I set my american to european?
American folks really need to fight for their rights
The change for EEA users doesn’t even work currently, so no one actually knows. I have a $50 bounty out though to figure out what’s needed once it does work though.
Use german/uk during setup, switch after.
Btw, deskmodder has a slightly deshittyfied Windows 11 iso.
This doesn’t even work currently. Despite them saying that those in the EEA won’t have to deal with Edge. I’m sure it’ll work eventually, just not right now.
So they restrict language choice to ip range? Or does the workaround no longer work, they use ip range or something else now?
The moment the VPN disconnects, edge pops up
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Install Linux. Problem solved
That’s just swapping one problem for another, and I say that as a Linux user
Swapping out a large listmof unsolvable problems, bugs, and limitations for a smaller lost of very doable problems.
And I say that as a 24 years Linux user who seriously only sees shit getting worse on the other side every time
The average user wants their computer to just work, they want to open up their new Bluetooth headphones that their son/ grandson bought them and it connects as expected. Your definition of problem and what is solvable is very different to theirs
The average beginner distro handles bluetooth headphones just fine. On Windows they do not always work reliably
They do not always work reliably anywhere.
Anecdotally, I disagree with that. I’ve never had an issue with Bluetooth on windows. I struggle a lot with Bluetooth on ubuntu
I’ve had issues with Bluetooth on Windows 11, but it worked perfectly on Linux Mint. On Windows 11 the Bluetooth card would simply disappear after I put the laptop to sleep, only appearing at random after multiple restarts. It did work in Windows 10 just fine, however. Similarly, I had to change my WiFi card just for Windows 11. It kept disconnecting from network. Again, something that did not affect Windows 10 or Linux Mint.
If I didn’t have unused WiFi card laying around, I definitely wouldn’t be buying another one just for Windows.
That’s funny. I’m listening right now to Spotify music on my Bluetooth headset from my Linux desktop. I got like 5 different bluetooth headsets that I use on three different computers, all works flawlessly.
So I guess I could say that that is actually not a problem?
Edit: to clarify: Bluetooth worked immediately and out of the box on each of my computers, a desktop and two different laptops. All I needed to do was pair the devices and go time. I can pair whatever Bluetooth device that I want.
Drivers are actually something that Linux handles far better than Windows lol
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Then what are you doing here in the comments of an article about yet another software company abusing it’s users for the nth time? Then go give your private data willingly to these companies.
I don’t directly have a problem with closed source software if it wasn’t for they fact that any closed source software product that gets big gets abused and riddled with ads.
That’s why, Linux.
Nobody wants to deal with Windows either. It’s just the monopoly that has been pushed onto us that we’ve been forced to get used to.
What setting can I put in to make Windows think its in the EU?
I have the hilarious image in my head that Microsoft checks their stats and has more EU users than the EU has population.
Good news everyone! We’ve apparently tripled our customer base in Europe!
That’s already pretty likely, given multiple devices per person.
Doubt it, computer sales have been shrinking in the past years. Phone/tablet is often all people need/want.
Don’t forget work computers!
That’s pretty close to 1 Windows PC per office worker. I still don’t think it adds up to a number bigger than European population. There are many people who basically don’t know how to use a computer.
lmfao.
This may or may not help you, I don’t have a Windows 11 install to try: https://www.elevenforum.com/t/change-country-or-region-geographic-location-geoid-in-windows-11.4034/
how to move out of america for free
pay and find a job, profit
In America, software owns you
Pretty sure USA has it the worst when it comes to MS shennenigans.
We get fucked on consumer protections in general.
That is why third party add-ons have become required for usability since Win8. Classic shell or Startallback removes all the bullshit “improvements” and makes the system work smoothly.
The only issue I run into is the occasional “Use Edge” bullshit they push out. It’s more of an annoyance than anything else.
MS is not the only one with the shenanigans. Every tech company is pushing garbage on their customers.
I swear I spend way too much time disabling the shit that the companies want me to use, so I can use the stuff I do.
I disagree, I haven’t had to use any third party-add ons in Windows 10. And once Win 11 brings back the option to not minimise my task bar buttons I think I’ll be happy to switch. It was dumb to remove so many options in the first place though.
Not even MS alone, it seems that my American colleagues are vendor locked in several different ways. It’s a bit bewildering honestly.
Yep. I remember some of my coworkers used to laugh at me saying “What bloatware? I don’t have any, nor the ads. We’ve used the same images, so it must’ve been something you’ve done yourself”.
Turns out that’s because I chose en/us during installation process and our region didn’t have preinstall deals… yet. Now, they too can enjoy self-installing candy crush and literal KGB spyware.
This except it’s not limited to software. We exist at the whims of corporations.
When you don’t control your software, your software controls you, or something like that
Ah damn! I missed out as I am using Pop OS. SWORRY!!
Don’t worry. They make Edge for Linux too.
https://www.theverge.com/2021/11/2/22759123/microsoft-edge-linux-stable-channel
Willingly using Edge on Linux to browse the internet should be classified as a mental disorder.
I think it’s called Stockholm syndrome.
Yup.
I do so. When you start the browser it’s bloated of course, but you can customize it and remove almost everything you don’t like. The browser itself has a lot of its own neat features, so it’s not really just a reskin of chromium. I am tired of pretending it’s only bad.
Why use proprietary software when we have alternative Free Software that works just as well?
Yeah, no. That is just wrong. That is akin to saying that IE 6 really was awesome. Get help
A warcrime
Who in the everlasting fuck would for what Jesus on a pogostick reason install edge on Linux?
That is just sick
That is like walking in on a church mass with “the exorcist 2973” blasting from your mobile phone
I’m sure Microsoft had it out there for someone but again… Who…?
I feel like I need to shower
Here I am, your case study. Installed Edge on my Linux box because at the time using Edge was the only way to access their chatGPT bot for free, through Bing Chat. The good thing is that it was just another browser, so not annoying pop-ups or anything. Since I moved to openai I’ve never used Edge again, and I actually forgot about it until I saw this comment.
Yeah I’m mostly “joking” about it, if you have a reason you have a reason, bit it does sound wrong somehow.
No worries, I know what you mean. Felt weird for me at the time as well!
Which is useful for using the Xbox Cloud thing on Linux.
Also, it works as the one Chromium based browser I occasionally need for sites built by idiots.
Cute.
Goddammit, now I’m even more disappointed in the UK doing a Brexit…
I didn’t even want the windows search results to include web links in the first place…
There’s just a teeny tiny problem with that; disabling web search renders Search unable to do maths.
It’s not an issue for me since I use PowerToys to get Spotlight-esque search in Windows, but it’s nevertheless hilarious.
macOS search is so much better than Windows search it’s not even remotely close.
macOS search is so much better than Windows search it’s not even remotely close.
Yeah but does macOS search use it’s own search engine to prop up user hit metrics and generate more ad revenue for Apple? I don’t think so. Score 1 Microsoft, our corporate tyrant.
Eyyyyyyyyy 😎👆👉👆👉
Thanks!
I haven’t used the windows search since forever, but if I ever need it again I’ll keep this is mind if I see the web results still bothering me.
Too late, I already shoved Linux Mint into my new gaming laptop and I’m glad I felt forced to do it, I’m having my first serious dive into Linux and I’m thrilled about my newfound project! I was so surprised over how very little knowledge you needed to have games running these days.
If you are having battery life problems like I was I would recomend using powertop or tlp
Thanks, it feels much better already, I will check it out!
Ha I did the same and jumped to mint also. Windows got so damn laggy such a shitty OS.
Now do cross-platform messaging next!
According to Microsoft almost everything from Microsoft is cross platform, because it works in both Windows 10 and 11. That’s good enough for Microsoft to be cross platform. I’m not even kidding!
EU: “That still only counts as one”
OK. 😀
Guys. This fellow here is missing a Lord of the Rings reference! Did you know that trilogy is 20 years ago now? Feeling old yet?
Lord of the Rings is from 1968, and I read it in the 80’s, and have seen the movies.
I don’t see how that was a reference to either.
It’s a movie reference. Specifically it references “The Lord of the Rings: The return of the King” at the end of the battle of Minas Tirith. It is said by Gimli, as a response to Legolas slaying a Mumak (giant war elephant).
I’m sorry i don’t have a timestamp.
Edit: It’s 2:50:49ish in the extended edition
OK I looked it up, and that is indeed a LOTR reference.
I just don’t get why people would make a reference out of anything as generic as that?
I mean they can require it if they want. Apple would just bury the fact that it exists and would use something that’s known to be shit. Idk how they could be forced to make iMessage cross platform.
Here we go again, MS already lost a US federal lawsuit for the same thing but with Internet Explorer.
Sadly, they didn’t lose. They almost lost, appealed and ended up with a settlement which didn’t require removing IE from Windows or prevent tying other software to windows.
On November 2, 2001, the DOJ reached an agreement with Microsoft to settle the case. The proposed settlement required Microsoft to share its application programming interfaces with third-party companies and appoint a panel of three people who would have full access to Microsoft’s systems, records, and source code for five years in order to ensure compliance.[29] However, the DOJ did not require Microsoft to change any of its code nor did it prevent Microsoft from tying other software with Windows in the future.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Microsoft_Corp
Yeah I definitely remember that in the news as a teenager…and then I remember everybody kinda shrugged their shoulders and forgot. And now Bill Gates = zoomer jesus after 20 years of PR work to turn his image around.
Somehow, everybody forgot all the dumpster-diving Gates did to “build” Microsoft in the first place.
Crazy to think that Commodore’s BASIC was coded by Bill Gates, though. I was recently reading a programming article he wrote in Compute! magazine back in 1984, when MS ascendance was anything but guaranteed.
Round and round and round.
It’s the same all over again. MS got a slap on their wrists with the browser choice tool they had to introduce in Windows 7.
Then everyone forgot about it and they started forcing Edge on users. Now they get a slap on their wrist again and the same will happen in another 10 years.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s really awesome and I’m glad that EU regulations actually have a impact. But I still wish for more, more permanent and stricter anti monopoly laws.
They won’t get anything much harder than a wrist slap because Edge is not the dominant browser right now. Google just had a much hasher punishment with Android and Chrome
