In November, Microsoft announced that it would make significant changes to Windows to comply with the European Union's Digital Marketing Act (DMA). The changes were numerous and first started rolling out to Insiders as a Preview version with update KB5032288.
The changes included a clear delineation in the stock of apps that came as “system” apps. Also added the ability to uninstall Edge and Bing search.
The deadline for this DMA compliance was set for March 6, 2024, and the company released the relevant details in a blog post:
Microsoft has made changes to Windows to comply with other provisions of the DMA and is delivering those changes to Windows computers in the EEA.
- The Edge browser and the Bing web search function have been redesigned so that users can uninstall these applications from Windows using the standard Windows mechanisms available for uninstallation.
- Microsoft has enabled and instructs third-party web search applications to offer web search services through the search box on the Windows taskbar in any browser and to display a search results page in the same way as the Windows search application . Similarly, Windows enables and gives information to developers about how to create news in the Windows Widgets panel in the same way as Microsoft Edge.
- Microsoft also tweaked the Windows sign-in experience. Before DMA, Windows automatically connected users to other Microsoft products and services and combined data, including Edge, Bing and Microsoft's “Start” service (eg news, weather, etc.) when users were logging on to Windows for the first time. Windows will no longer automatically connect users to these services.
To help users understand the changes in a simplified way, Microsoft has also released a graphic that you can see below:
Η the company's blog post describes and other changes that Microsoft had to make, such as with LinkedIn. Microsoft has also quietly confirmed the ability to uninstall OneDrive in Windows 11.
