These changes are only applicable to users in the EEA. For those outside the region, Windows will continue to function as it is!
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.
Install Linux, get rid of Windows and be done with the nonsense
I work with Linux on a daily basis, both as a server OS and a desktop OS. Unpopular observation perhaps, but I’ve yet to find a distro which provides a more stable desktop experience than Windows 11 does for me. I do enough Linux troubleshooting during the day, after work I just want something that works.
I’m curious what distro you use. I put my partner on fedora, she’s not very techy, and generally speaking she doesn’t really have any issues doing the day to day stuff. The biggest pain point was switching to Firefox and getting its worse profile system to work, but that was not a necessary change just a choice.
I can second Fedora (the KDE version). It’s been rock solid for me, it works with all my hardware both old and new.
One of the biggest pluses for me was the ability to move my Firefox and Thunderbird profiles from one OS to another, over the decades.
You definitely had to take a few minutes out to massage the profile system to get the old profile to show up again (basically figuring out how to point back to the existing moved profile, and not the new one that a new install creates), but it was well worth doing so, for the portability that it affords.
I also use the KDE spin of Fedora fwiw
What’s wrong with Ubuntu? I’ve used it daily for years.
Just installed Ubuntu on both my desktop and laptop last week.
Right off the bat, maximized windows widen and slip the left edge behind the dock whenever it locks, which is infuriating.
Optimus doesn’t seem to be working as intended in my laptop. I also get a bunch of LSPCON errors on every startup.
I haven’t checked yet, but from what I’ve heard, HDR support is also lacking on Linux, which is unfortunate because I have a nice monitor.
I get those are problems for you, but Windows also has many problems. No OS is perfect.
Of those issues, I think the vast majority of users will not have any idea what Optimus or LSPCON are, and wouldn’t care too much about HDR support.
The maximized windows thing - yeah I agree. It’s crazy to me that they haven’t fixed this.
I can’t stand dock shenanigans, I just froze it to never hide except with full screen video.
How do you have an unstable desktop? What card and or programs are you using?
In 20 years of desktops I’ve had issues with Nvidia cards, yes, and currently my KDE has a weird rendering issue where a specific window of my editor can flicker like once or twice a day, which is fixed by clicking it.
KDE4 was a hot mess back in the day after initial release, but it seems they learned their lesson and 6 seems quite fine (upgrading to that soon myself) I’ve mostly done fedora and Ubuntu desktops and honestly they’re a breeze.
So what exactly is it that you’re using that you have so many problems?