This is a taste of what you can achieve when regulatory bodies actually have the guts to stand up to megacorps.
this post was submitted on 17 Nov 2023
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In the EEA, much more is on the way:
Bing's web search from the Start menu and the Edge browser can be uninstalled Third parties can add to the Windows Widgets Board feeds Third parties, like Google or DuckDuckGo, can provide the built-in web search results that Bing once had exclusively Windows users who choose to sync their Microsoft accounts will have their pinned apps and preferences synced, seemingly keeping their EEA-enabled choices Windows will now "always use customers' configured app default settings for link and file types"
Good to see Microsoft just blatantly confirming that these are anti-competitive measures rather than any sort of technical limitation.
A “technical limitation” is just a feature with a poor ROI on engineering hours on a spreadsheet. I mean, on Microsoft 365 Excel.
The fact that they only do this in Europe is the biggest "fuck you" to users they could have done.
I'm going to need to set my language setting to English (France) soon then.
English (UK)?
Oops, not part of EEA either, if they’re being pesky with non eu countries, then uk screwed
Maybe English (Malta) if that's an option
You should be able to set the region and the language independently, right? What if you're an English speaker living in Germany, for example?
English (Gibraltar)
Oh good another Windows N? Because, if you've tried to use it, I'm sure you'd know how well that went.
I accidentally installed windows N and God, why does it exist?
why does it exist?
The EU made them do it.
This time it's the EEA, or Schengen, but probably backed up by the EU. I think the N version worked, sort of, but there were also some dark design patterns there. Mind you, this is some legislation ago, so the new one might actually be a better solution. We'll have to see.
Didn't we already do this with the Windows XP "N" edition?
I miss the old pirated XP. Stripped and streamlined for your convenience.
You could try . It's not a custom image, but will heavily trim and modify the Windows base.
Or Tiny11, which you can build.
I might give that a spin, when the EEA version of 11 drops... but until then: Win10.
The moment win 10 reaches EOL, I'm switching. Not gonna ride that shitshow anymore
I am building a minimal, debloated Win11 QEMU image currently. But windows doing that on Purpose? I dont think so
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Some are not so subtle, like testing a "quiz" that made some users explain why they're trying to quit the OneDrive app.
Those living in the European Economic Area (EEA)—which includes the EU and adds Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway—will soon get the volume turned down on their Windows 11 systems.
Microsoft writes in a blog post that many of these changes will be available in a preview update of Windows 11 (version 23H2) this month.
The Digital Markets Act's impending arrival will impact other major tech firms that are considered "gatekeepers" providing "core platform services" that are "most prone to unfair business practices."
Google has recently pitched the European Union on the idea of forcing Apple to make iMessage interoperable under the Act.
On Wednesday, Meta became the first platform to appeal its gatekeeper status for its Messenger and Marketplace services, followed shortly thereafter by TikTok.
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