Microsoft now permits uninstalling Edge, Bing, and OneDrive to adhere to the EU's Digital Markets Act.

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Submitted ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨ForgottenFlux@lemmy.world⁩ to ⁨technology@lemmy.world⁩

https://www.ghacks.net/2024/03/11/microsoft-starts-rollout-of-windows-dma-compliance-changes-in-europe/

The changes to Windows for DMA-compliance include:

You can now uninstall Edge and Bing web search using the built-in settings. Earlier, the option was greyed out.
Third-party web search application developers can now utilize the Windows search box in the taskbar using the instructions provided by Microsoft and choose any web browser to show results from the web.
Microsoft will no longer sign-in users to Edge, Bing, and Microsoft Start services during the initial Windows setup experience.
Data collected about the functioning of non-Microsoft apps, primarily bug detection and its effects on the OS, from Windows PCs will not be used for competitive purposes.
Microsoft, from now on, will need explicit user consent before combining data from the OS and other sources. It will also deliver new consent screens where required.

These changes are only applicable to users in the EEA. For those outside the region, Windows will continue to function as it is!

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waigl@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
About 20 years ago, Microsoft was found guilty and convicted, because they forced their browser on their users, driving out competitors by abusing their de facto monopoly on PC operating systems. These days, they are doing the exact same thing again, just on an even broader base. I don’t even understand how this verdict took so long.

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- BakerBagel@midwest.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  It makes perfect sense once you understand that regulators have only cared about stock prices for the last 40 years. The EU coming down on giant corporations is a new development
  
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  - Contend6248@feddit.de ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Only because we don’t have any tech giants, we’ve slept on it so we get the money this way and try to slow down others until we figure shit out
    
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- Thorry84@feddit.nl ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  The fucking sad thing is, when they did it 20 years ago Internet Explorer became the gold standard. Now they are pushing super hard, annoying users, killing competition and they have a tiny market share. They aren’t getting anywhere, just being assholes because they don’t know how not to be.
  
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  - banneryear1868@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Edge is just a Chromium build with more manageability for enterprise use.
    
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- masterspace@lemmy.ca ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Because Apple saw that and said “hold my beer”.
  
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- linearchaos@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  “They” (collectively large lobbying corporations) own the US government.
  
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  - evergreen@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulatory_capture
    
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- sunbeam60@lemmy.one ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  The behaviour required of you when you have a monopoly is different when you don’t.
  
  These days IE isn’t a monopoly. Chrome is. So Microsoft is allowed more leeway to nudge its users.
  
  This isn’t a verdict. There’s been no court case. This is Microsoft complying with EU regulation, which is very recent. Microsoft has responded to it quite quickly.
  
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- DrMango@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Demand reparations for Netscape Navigator!
  
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SamsonSeinfelder@feddit.de ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Me for the rest of the week:

Image

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- Kecessa@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Is you regional settings set to a European country?
  
  (by the way, life pro tip, setting your region to a European country solves a ton of issues people have with Windows, most complaints I see I never had a problem with even though I live in Canada, my settings are set to UK)
  
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  - bionicjoey@lemmy.ca ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Interesting that setting your location to the UK gets you EU protections. Do the EU protections apply in the UK? They Brexited didn’t they?
    
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  - MamboGator@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Are there any downsides to setting your region to some place other than where you actually are?
    
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  - acockworkorange@mander.xyz ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Linux solves the rest.
    
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  - Kalysta@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    This is the life hack I never knew i needed. Thanks!!
    
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- Vendul@feddit.de ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  You could always uninstall with the Revo Uninstaller
  
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  - lunachocken@lemm.ee ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Check out Chris titisi’s script. Can do quite a bit and uninstall edge.
    
    It can be ran as a single command without any manual download.
    
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tabular@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

Microsoft now permits

The benevolence! Letting people do what they want with their purchased software. wow!

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- conquer4@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  You don’t buy the software. You buy a license to use their software.
  
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  - asparagapple@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Yeah and with Apple, it feels like we buy a license to use their hardware.
    
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  - deweydecibel@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Right, and the consumer protections and ownership rights for that licence are grossly insufficient compared to what you would get if you bought a physical object.
    
    We’ve allowed ridiculous compliance requirements and forced updates to become normalized when we never should have, and we’ve accepted the undermining of user authority because we refused to fight for it.
    
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  - AHemlocksLie@lemmy.zip ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    I have no idea why you’re being downvoted because you’re right. You don’t really own hardly any of the software you buy. You don’t buy the software, you buy a license to use it in almost all commercial cases. It would be financial suicide for companies to revoke those licenses in most cases, but it still is what it is.
    
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  - Maggoty@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    A license subject to the law. Which can easily say that “license” is no different from a physical object you buy.
    
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  - PilferJynx@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    That’s what it’s become. But, hear me out, what if I want the hardware without the software? Tough luck? Both are so tied together that if the company pulls the rug you don’t have reasonable access to the hardware.
    
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  - TheDrunkard@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    I see hive mind stupidity is alive and well as your completely factual statement is downvoted by absolute morons.
    
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eighthourlunch@kbin.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
This ought to happen everywhere. Either I'm the admin on my machine or I'm not. If it's not, I'm not sure how much longer I'll tolerate a Windows machine.

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- masterspace@lemmy.ca ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  PSA: Once this rolls out into the actual downloadable Windows builds, everyone should be able to do this by reinstalling Windows.
  
  ###European Economic Area PCs
  
  As noted above, some functionality is only available in the EEA. Windows uses the region chosen by the customer during device setup to identify if the PC is in the EEA. Once chosen in device setup, the region used for DMA compliance can only be changed by resetting the PC.
  
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  - DaMonsterKnees@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Ummmmmmmmmmmmmm…
    
    Can we get THIS fucking comment on the front page please? Outstanding work, friend! Sincere thanks!
    
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  - deweydecibel@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    I’d worry about how that might effect other things. Windows isn’t the only thing that changes it’s behavior based on region.
    
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- octopus_ink@lemmy.ml ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  You haven’t been the sole admin on a Windows machine in a long time, friend.
  
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- refurbishedrefurbisher@lemmy.sdf.org ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  If you care about stuff like being the sole admin of your machine, IDK whg you’re using Windows.
  
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- Duke_Nukem_1990@feddit.de ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Ypu can be the admin of your machine, but I bet you know what that would mean :)
  
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- helenslunch@feddit.nl ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  I will tolerate it for -1.5 years.
  
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watcher@nopeeking.link ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
But I thought this was a crucial part of the operating system?!

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- MP3Martin@programming.dev ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  The Internet Explorer system stuff is still there, the difference is that if it launches in a new window with a website, it automatically opens Edge instead of IE. (iirc)
  
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  - lud@lemm.ee ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Yeah, internet explorer is integrated deeply in places you wouldn’t expect.
    
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- OfficerBribe@lemm.ee ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  It is, specifically MS Edge WebView. For example new MS Teams and new Outlook client are using WebView.
  
  This uninstall will most likely still keep Edge present, it will just be somehow hidden / not as easily accessible.
  
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le_saucisson_masquay@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
So where are the people saying edge couldn’t be uninstalled because it’s a core part of the system that other element depended upon. I swear I have seen this answer on every reddit post about uninstalling edge, yet Microsoft show its absolutely possible (although only in Europe, because dependencies don’t work the same in Europe 😂).

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- root@precious.net ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  That’s what they said about Internet Explorer right up until the moment where Microsoft wanted everyone to switch to Edge. Not only could you suddenly uninstall it, but it even started uninstalling itself!
  
  Funny how that happens
  
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  - pastermil@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Wasn’t it actually a core component until they phase it out in Win7 or Win8? AFAIK (at least on WinXP) the entirety of GUI is rendered from the IE.
    
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- mods_are_assholes@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Protip: Microsoft uses social media manipulation to shape public opinion. Some of those people claiming that were on a payroll.
  
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- QuarterSwede@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  I’m sure it’s just uninstalling the browser chrome. The backend is woven into too many MS products to be completely removed.
  
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  - nutt_goblin@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Kinda yeah. WebView2 is edge (chromium) based and definitely is not uninstalled by uninstalling edge. But it won’t have the browser chrome or the MS Account association (for now, we all know it’s possible for ms to make things worse 💀)
    
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- arin@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Kinda hard to download a browser without a browser
  
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  - StopSpazzing@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    winget install firefox
    
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  - QuarterSwede@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Probably be able to redownload it through the MS store.
    
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  - root@precious.net ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    There are other protocols on the internet you know…
    
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  - dont_lemmee_down@lemm.ee ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    If windows ships curl, then it’s easy!
    
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- dual_sport_dork@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  A lot of apps do use Edge as an embedded control to display web content. (Back before Edge was a thing, they would do the same thing with Internet Explorer.) Doing this is the path of the least resistance to whoever is developing these pieces of shit, since they can (up until now) expect Edge to be present on the user’s system without having to cart around their own copy of a web browser and keep it updated in perpetuity with all the potential security holes not doing so could bring, yadda yadda yadda. Uninstalling Edge will indeed cause those particular programs to break.
  
  There is now also the “Microsoft Edge WebView2 Runtime Environment” (via) which may or may not be able to run on its own even if the regular user-facing version of Edge is uninstalled – I have no idea, and I haven’t tried.
  
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glasgitarrewelt@feddit.de ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Who puts up with this shit anyway? Go buy an Apple. You can eat it while installing Linux.

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- Joelk111@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Had me in the first half.
  
  I stick around with Windows due to shitty DRM and VR compatibility. It’s been a couple years since I last tried Linux, so maybe it’s gotten better. I should probably try it again.
  
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  - Mr_Blott@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    
    It’s been a couple years since I last tried Linux, so maybe it’s gotten better
    
    Have been seeing this same comment for two decades now so I’m guessing -
    
    Narrator - “It hadn’t”
    
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  - potentiallynotfelix@iusearchlinux.fyi ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    ALVR is totally capable at playing steamvr games if you have a quest headset, and htc headsets work aswell as valve indexes
    
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small44@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
This need to be applied to smartphones

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- smileyhead@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Imagine phones coming with a clean Android with the ability to install Google Play Services like a normal app 😌.
  
  And documention to port other operating systems or new Android versions.
  
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  - Dehydrated@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    You just described GrapheneOS, by far the best mobile operating system IMO
    
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  - Burn_The_Right@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    The closest thing is Fairphone. Also, unfortunately, only available in Europe.
    
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  - the_crotch@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Now imagine your boomer aunt trying to sideload an app store on her new phone
    
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- The_Worst@feddit.nl ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  They are working on it (or it is part of the DMA) to enable users to uninstall preloaded apps.
  
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- CileTheSane@lemmy.ca ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Linux phone when?
  
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  - Bronco1676@lemmy.ml ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Already exists but not in a good shape for “normie” use
    
    postmarketos.org
    
    pine64.org/devices/pinephone_pro/
    
    ubuntu-touch.io
    
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Suavevillain@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
It takes the EU to force Microsoft to act reasonable.

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- mods_are_assholes@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  And they will ONLY act reasonable when forced.
  
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  - minibyte@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    – and only I’m the EU. Sorry Britain.
    
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- The_Worst@feddit.nl ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Not only Microsoft unfortunately.
  
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- turkishdelight@lemmy.ml ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  At least they are complying. Apple is being childish and throwing a tantrum.
  
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- bartolomeo@suppo.fi ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Seriously, it took the EU to force Microsoft not to grey out “uninstall Edge”. Still there are non-billionaire people who want to eliminate government regulations, it boggles my mind. I mean, besides brainwashed business school bros.
  
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raspberriesareyummy@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

These changes are only applicable to users in the EEA. For those outside the region, Windows will continue to function as it is!

You misspelled “Windows will continue to be as fucked up as it is!”

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- XM34@feddit.de ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Not for me :)
  
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  - raspberriesareyummy@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Not OP but okay, I’ll bite: What exactly do you prefer about being locked into the MS ecosystem as opposed to being allowed to choose, including the choice to keep that very ecosystem?
    
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- Rye@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Easy solution: don’t use Windows or if possible nothing from Microsoft at all
  
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Moopinger@infosec.pub ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Props to EU keeping these assholes in check

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rustydrd@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Great news. Although it’s bizarre that it took an entire continent passing a new law to get to this point.

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orosus@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Does this EU’s Digital Markets Act also applies for Android and all the preinstalled apps by Google and the phone manufacturer?

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woodenskewer@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
how about fucking autopilot too instead of having to find a registry to disable it.

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Darkassassin07@lemmy.ca ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Meh, I purged windows from my systems last month. I will never be forced to (re)install Edge, use the garbage search, or link my pc to a gd Microsoft account again. I’ve had enough of Microsofts bullshit.

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blazeknave@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Lol didn’t we do this 20 years ago?

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Evil_Shrubbery@lemm.ee ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Great! Now please also make manufacturers give us the option to uninstall/change webview & other such services on android devices.

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potentiallynotfelix@iusearchlinux.fyi ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
still not switching to windows

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lightnegative@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Being able to uninstall OneDrive is a game changer. That thing annoys me so much

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UmeU@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
One drive is the one that really ruffles my feathers.

It turns itself back on randomly, which wouldn’t be too much of a problem except for that it fucking remaps the desktop… a file that was previously located at C:\user\desktop\ is now at C:\user\One Drive\desktop…

Note the space in the path, they didn’t even have the decency to use an underscore… \one_drive\… even though it’s one of their own rules in powershell scripting.

For those of us using powershell to automate stuff this remapping is a nightmare and should be illegal.

Too bad I am in the US and will just have to continue to get support calls from time to time when a users desktop gets remapped behind the scenes.

Maybe there is a way using powershell and windows scheduled tasks to check to see if one drive turned itself back on, then auto turn it off and remap the desktop back to normal.

The absurdity of having windows check to see if windows screwed itself up, then if so have it fix itself is just laughable.

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revisable677@feddit.de ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Finally! Always glad to see the EU forcing Tech Giants to be user friendly

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PerogiBoi@lemmy.ca ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Is this option only available in the EU for EU citizens?

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tooLikeTheNope@lemmy.ml ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
I"ve found way more practical uninstalling windows and switching to linux. An EU citizen.

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Neato@ttrpg.network ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
I’d rather uninstall Chrome, TBH. If you need a Chromium browser, Edge is just better. And Bing is about as good as Google for most searches. Only a handful of things (like default maps) do I switch for. Which is honestly staggering because Bing used to be such shit in comparison. Google has really let itself go.

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serpineslair@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Today is a good day.

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Benchamoneh@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
If I set my region to an EEA country is that good enough or do I need to reinstall windows to get this?

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Sibbo@sopuli.xyz ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Good. Now make it be uninstalled by default.

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Kalysta@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Awesome. How do I port this ability over to an American PC?

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jabathekek@sopuli.xyz ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
confused solely Linux user noises

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nakura@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Can I change my region on an existing install, or do I need to/should I do it on a fresh install?

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