All of these Windows 11 changes are part of key tweaks that Microsoft has to make to its operating system to comply with the European Commission’s Digital Markets Act, which comes into effect in March 2024.
Alongside clearly marking which apps are system components in Windows 11, Microsoft is also responding by adding the ability to uninstall the following apps:
- Camera
- Cortana (already removable and thrown in the trash)
- Web Search from Microsoft Bing, in the EEA
- Microsoft Edge, in the EEA
- Photos
Only Windows 11 users in the EEA will be able to fully remove Microsoft Edge and the Bing-powered web search from Windows Search. Microsoft could easily extend this to all Windows 11 users, but it’s limiting this extra functionality to EEA markets to comply with the rules. “Windows uses the region chosen by the customer during device setup to identify if the PC is in the EEA,”
Microsoft will allow EEA machines to remove the Bing results, so Google could provide its own search results here and effectively become the default if a user has uninstalled Bing. “If the user has more than one search provider installed, Windows Search will show the last one used when opened,”
So possibly search engines like ddgo and others may be able to develop an integration to be able to be used in the windows search menu.
But no nice things for outside the EEA.
Now I hope that when uninstalling edge, it won’t auto reinstall back like the f piece of s omen software which installs itself because I have an hp display.
Also what would happen if a user, who has no idea what they are doing, uninstalls edge without having another browser available?
Sounds like we need to start installing windows as a EU nation.
I wish America would join the EU
Why do you hate the EU so much?
Omg please stay away
Please don’t
Just moved from WIndows to Linux Mint a few weeks ago and never going back
Once windows 10 becomes unuseable, I will switch to linux no matter what. Considering they are already testing the waters about subscription for OS, there is nothing they will stop for.
I wouldn’t be surprised if they completely started preventing regular users from having administrator rights to their own computers and you would either have to buy more expensive licence or just contact some ms support ai and beg it to do what you need admin rights for. Most users most likely wouldn’t even notice or care since you dont need administator account to do things majority of people use computers for.
Yeah yeah. Good for you. Some people need work done you know. “Linux is free, if you don’t value your time.”
This Linux and Firefox shilling on Lemmy is out of hand.
“Linux is free, if you don’t value your time.”
This is at least 10 years obsolete. Use Mint, Ubuntu, Fedora… 95% of users can have the system ready without even opening the browser or terminal even once.
I’m sure many people on Lemmy have hated closed source software for a long time. At this point you’re walking into a hospital and complaining about vaccines!
Or maybe I should use a religious example, perhaps Saint IGNUcius would approve?
How am I shilling, you dope? I said what I did for MY personal experience. I never once said other people have to use it. In fact I would never recommend Linux to non tech savvy family members, unless they only do light shit like web browsing.
Just block all users mentioning linux. I do so now to clean up the comments to get rid of linux bros
Cool. Do Chrome next please.
They are. Chrome will have to be optional on Android.
Microsoft is being very pro-active by acting on this in November when the regulation stipulates a March deadline. I’d expect most gatekeepers to be well on the way towards that March deadline by now but they’ll start actually shipping that work around February.
Also what would happen if a user, who has no idea what they are doing, uninstalls edge without having another browser available?
I guess not allowing the current default browser to be uninstalled while there is no other program available that can be made the default browser would be a simple and viable solution here.
They have to use terminal to download a new one, duh.
Or more likely, there will be an option to use the OS’s installation media or something to install edge again, if not a still-legal-to-remove-but-separate-from-edge installer that would take someone who knows what they’re doing to remove.
Microsoft Store already has browsers like Firefox.
Once again I go through the typical UK cyle when seeing this kind of news: Excitement followed by dissapointment upon remembering that we’re not part of that club anymore.
EU coming in clutch for tech rights once again
Would be hilarious of Microsoft did a 180 and decided to just stop all business in the EU in order to be able to continue forcing edge
As someone who is sadly no longer part of the EEA, I wonder what would happen if you selected an EEA region during install, removed everything you want gone, then set your region properly?
A quote in the article from Microsoft: “Once chosen in device setup, the region used for DMA compliance can only be changed by resetting the PC.”
So if you move into EEA from outside you have to reset your device to be given this option? That smells like a lawsuit ready to happen.
update goes brrrr
As far as Microsoft is concerned it looks like I now live in Ireland.
This, the USB standard for phones and so many other things are shit that happened before, over a decade ago.
The moment these companies see a technicality or loophole to skirt the rules, they do it.
If they uninstall it there’s still the Microsoft store
That’s funny, I think this whole new bing with the AI is the first iteration of bing I like.
Yes, but it still shouldn’t be forced down users’ throats.
There’s a lot I like about MS products (unlike the majority here), but I still dislike the way they integrate their services into their products. I’ll use what I want, thanks.
Everything from Microsoft is literally just white noise to me at this point, so I don’t even know what they’re pushing or forcing down anyone’s throat. I’ve been using Linux for years.
But I thought I’d give their new ai chat thing a whirl and really enjoyed using it.
Copilot/Bing Chat is honestly fucking great. I use it very often. I still don’t use Edge for browsing, but I do use Edge Dev sidebar Bing chat.
Same.
I just wish the branding wasn’t so f****** imprecise.
Like it’s called the new bing, It’s called Bing Chat It’s called Bing AI and it’s called co-pilot, but I don’t know what the difference is between any of those and I REALLY don’t care what the difference is, I just want to use that little sidebar thing.
Bing ai powers Bing chat. If you are accessing Bing chat via a 365 account, Bing chat is upgraded to copilot.
Hahaha, thank you. I appreciate your answer even as I hate its content. Bing search is still separate though?
I think Bing search now gives you a little sidebar Bing chat results right? I think of just bing.com when you say Bing search.
There’s like a blue Infinity button at the top right and I click that to talk to the AI. That’s as far as I understand anything about Microsoft anymore.
I open up Bing and click on the little thing to ask the AI question sometimes, but that’s it.
Yeah that’s Bing chat, or if you’re logged in with a 365 account, copilot.
But only in Europe. Is there any way the rest of us can do this too?
If I understand this correctly, using a European countries’ location during setup should work. When all is done and dusted, set your actual location.
Most certainly the today tools to uninstall software from windows would still be usable, but not official like in EEA locations.
remove-appx package in powershell can remove edge and always could, I honestly don’t even understand why this legislation was necessary
Use a Mac or Linux.
Just use linux.
Well you see, there is a reason I’m on windows, because I can’t use Linux for what I need, unless… Maybe you want to do a commit on the Linux kernel and amd driver to enhance the libVF.IO compatibility for recent amd gpus? Oh and don’t forget commits on overwolf for Linux/wine support and some other things too hmm?
And if you noticed a problem in windows and wanted to do commit on the windows kernel?
