In the upcoming weeks, residents living in the European Economic Area (EEA) that includes the EU, including Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway, will have the option to ditch Microsoft’s bundleware that was initially from its package.
Microsoft needs to make its programs easier to uninstall, its default settings more accessible to change, and its attempts to drive users towards its services more accessible to ignore to comply with the demands as part of the European Commission’s Digital Markets Act, which is expected to go into effect in March 2024.
In a statement, Microsoft said it would gradually introduce previewing changes to Windows 10 over the next few weeks and add these features “at a later date.”
The most significant changes come from the ability to uninstall the Microsoft Edge web browser and remove Bing Search from the Windows Search pane.
The user can remove the already growing list of in-box apps, with only a few system apps, such as File Explorer and Phone Link, that cannot be uninstalled.
Except for a few system apps like File Explorer and Phone Link, which are now uninstallable, this adds to the already expanding number of in-box apps that users can remove.
Furthermore, Microsoft is releasing an upgrade for the Widgets Board that will enable users to disable the Microsoft News and ad feed while preserving widgets for users who choose to use them.
Microsoft is also modifying Windows 11 so that the operating system retains user-specified defaults.
If users in the EEA want to synchronize Windows with a Microsoft account, they will receive a prompt with their OS environment.
From 6 March 2024, EU rules will enter into force, and Microsoft announced that Windows 10 and 11 features would generally be made available to comply with them.
However, this significant change is less likely to affect UK residents since the country has opted to leave the EU in 2016.