Microsoft Details Upcoming Windows Changes to Comply With EU’s Digital Markets Act

Microsoft is preparing to make some changes to Windows 11 and Windows 10 to make its operating systems compliant with the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), which will fully come into effect in 2024. In September, the EU Commission designed Microsoft as one of the “gatekeeper” companies that will need to make some changes to some of its platforms to ensure that they’re not restricting competition.

Some of the changes that Microsoft will make to Windows 11 to ensure compliance with the DMA are already being tested with Windows Insiders. That includes the new “system” label on System components in the Start menu’s All Apps list, as well as the new Settings > System > System Components page showing notable operating system components.

Microsoft is also making it possible to uninstall more of its inbox apps on Windows 11: Cortana (now deprecated), Camera, and Photos can now be uninstalled, and in the EU, you can add Microsoft Edge a Web Search component from Microsoft Bing to that list.

In Europe, Microsoft is also opening up two new interoperability points for third-party apps: Web search in Windows Search and Feeds in the Widgets board. It’s not exactly clear how this will work in practice, but it looks like Windows 11 users will be able to choose other search providers than Microsoft Bing in Windows Search.

Similarly, the Windows 11 widgets board will accept other news providers than Microsoft Start (MSN.com), with users being able to turn different “feeds” of information on and off.

Regarding default apps, Microsoft says Windows 11 users in the EU can expect the OS to “always use the customers’ configured app default settings for link and file types, including industry standard browser link types (http, https).” However, the company also said that “some Microsoft apps will choose to open web content in Microsoft Edge,” which still isn’t ideal.

Lastly, Windows 11 will soon start asking users in the EU if they want to sync their Microsoft account with Windows to allow the OS to use their personal information in other apps and Windows devices. As an example, enabling this will allow users to easily restore settings, apps, passwords, pinned apps, and preferences on another Windows 11 PC.

All these changes to comply with the EU’s DMA will start rolling out soon to Windows 11 Insiders on the Release Preview Channel. These changes will also be previewed on Windows 10 version 22H2 at a later date, and Microsoft is planning to enable them for all users by March 6, 2024.