Back in November, Microsoft announced that it was making major changes to Windows so as to comply with the European Union (E.U.)"s Digital Markets Act (DMA). The changes were several and they were first released to Insiders as Release Preview under KB5032288.
These included a clear demarcation of stock apps as "system" apps. The ability to uninstall Edge and Bing web search were also added. The sign-in experience was also modified. You can view the full set of changes in the announcement article.
The deadline for such DMA compliance was set to March 6 2024, and as the company published details about the changes it made in a blog post. It stated:
Microsoft did make changes to Windows to comply with other provisions of the DMA and is delivering these changes to Windows PCs in the EEA.
- The Edge browser and the Bing web search functionality were redesigned so that users can uninstall these applications from Windows using the standard Windows mechanisms that are available for uninstallation if they choose to do so.
- Microsoft has enabled and provided instructions for third-party web search applications to offer web search services through the search box on the Windows task bar and to rely on any browser of their choice to show a search results page in the same way as the Microsoft Bing web search application. Similarly, Windows enables and has provided information to developers on how to create third-party news feeds in the Windows Widgets panel in the same way as Microsoft Edge.
- Microsoft also modified the sign-in experience on Windows. Prior to the DMA, Windows automatically signed users into other Microsoft products and services that combined data, including into Edge, Bing, and the Microsoft “Start” service (e.g. news, weather, etc.) when users are first signed into Windows. Windows will no longer automatically sign users into these services.
To help users understand the changes in a simplified way, Microsoft also published a graphic that you can view below:
The blog post also details other changes Microsoft had to make including on LinkedIn. You can find the official post on this page on Microsoft"s website.
Update, March 11 2024: Microsoft has also quietly confirmed the ability to uninstall OneDrive on Windows 11.