Windows 11 (and 10) will give EEA users more features to comply with the Digital Markets Act

Summary

• Microsoft is making changes to Windows 11 and 10 to comply with the Digital Markets Act, giving users more control over their devices and the Windows experience.
• Users in the EEA can now uninstall more pre-installed apps like Camera and Photos, and even Microsoft Edge and Web Search from Bing, providing more flexibility.
• Microsoft is allowing app interoperability with Windows Search and the feeds pane in the Widgets board, allowing users to customize their search engines and news feeds for a more tailored experience.

Microsoft has announced some changes to Windows 11 that will allow it to comply with the Digital Markets Act (DMA) in the European Economic Area (EEA). The DMA is focused on giving consumers more choices over their devices, and as such, Windows 11 is getting some changes that give users more control over the Windows experience, such as uninstalling more apps or disabling certain features.

Some of these capabilities have already been in testing for a while with Windows Insiders. For example, Windows 11 now allows you to uninstall more of the included apps, such as Camera, Cortana, and Photos, and that's not limited to the EEA. What is limited to the EEA, though, is the ability to uninstall Microsoft Edge and Web Search from Microsoft Bing, so you're not forced to have those products on your machine if you don't want to use them. That's big news considering these features can be pretty intrusive in Windows 11.

Of course, uninstalling Bing means you lose the ability to search the web from the Windows Search bar, but Microsoft is making another change: adding app interoperability with Windows Search. That means you could be able to install custom web search engines to use with Windows Search, giving you a more customized and useful experience. On that note, Microsoft is also adding interoperability with the feeds pane in the Widgets board, so you can add custom news feeds to the board and disable Microsoft Start's feeds, which will go a long way in making the Widgets board more useful. All of this applies only to users in the EEA, so if you're in the United States, for example, you'll still have to deal with the existing experience, at least for now.

Users in the EEA will also be asked if they want to sync their Microsoft account with Windows to back up their settings and sync data with other Microsoft products for a more seamless experience. This is usually all enabled by default. Microsoft also touched on default apps, stating that in the EEA, Windows will always respect the user's choice for app default settings for file types and links, including standard protocols like HTTP and HTTPS. However, the company also says that apps control how to open content in Windows, and that some Microsoft apps may choose to open content in Microsoft Edge. It's worth noting here that Windows Search uses a custom protocol for opening web links that ensures only Edge can open said protocol, since most browsers aren't set up to handle it.

Another change Microsoft mentioned is that you'll now see system apps labeled as such in the Start menu, and they'll appear in a separate section of the Settings app. This change has been in testing with Insiders for a while and isn't exclusive to the EEA, but it does make it clearer which apps might affect core system functionality if uninstalled.

Many of these changes are available today in Windows 11 for Insiders in the Release Preview channel, with the latest build rolling out now. These changes will also come to Windows 10 Insiders later. Microsoft says both Windows 11 version 23H2 and Windows 10 version 22H2 will be compliant with the DMA by March 6, 2024. It's worth noting that your laptop or desktop must be set to a region in the EEA during the setup process in order to fall under the DMA, so you can't just change your regional settings to get these new capabilities. The only way to do it is to reset your PC.