Hot Take Wintoys Offers the Digital Markets Act for EU on Windows 11 for Any User

[lokamoka820]

Wintoys added a feature in the latest release that implement the latest updates to windows for the digital market act, so users outside EU can get this feature:

added Digital Markets Act option under Tweaks > System; unlocks exclusive features for EEA (European Economic Area), such as being able to uninstall Edge, but only by launching the uninstaller from a Microsoft signed process like Control Panel or the Settings app; this option does not change your region settings, but Microsoft made it work only with country codes, not region codes; for example, if you live in Bahrain, you’d have to set the Windows region to India

Just enable it and uninstall Microsoft Edge, etc.

 

[Parkinsond]

Wintoys added a feature in the latest release that implement the latest updates to windows for the digital market act, so users outside EU can get this feature:

View attachment 288982
Just enable it and uninstall Microsoft Edge, etc.

But I like Edge, and love Bill.

 

[KnownStormChaser]

Wintoys added a feature in the latest release that implement the latest updates to windows for the digital market act, so users outside EU can get this feature:

View attachment 288982
Just enable it and uninstall Microsoft Edge, etc.

Thanks for finding this, now I can finally uninstall Edge! And there are so many other useful tweaks in there to make Windows less annoying.

 

[jamey910111]

How can i download wintoys without going through the Microsoft store?

 

[7Oz-64]

How can i download wintoys without going through the Microsoft store?

Wintoys

Wintoys is a feature-rich system maintenance utility that empowers Windows users to customize, optimize, and maintain their operating system in a simple and efficient manner.Developed...

www.filehorse.com

 

[jamey910111]

Thanks I tend not to download from third-party download sites, I think it’s a slight shame if the developer doesn’t actually offer a way of downloading the file straight on github or through a more dedicated way..forcing through microsoft instead

 

[roger_m]

How can i download wintoys without going through the Microsoft store?

Why don't you want to use the Microsoft Store?

 

[jamey910111]

Why don't you want to use the Microsoft Store?

Forces me to be reliant on ms store for updates too i just dont like it, it like adds an additional mechanism in my work flow etc. i want to have the choice to pick apps myself not like be forced onto them….

 

[Vitali Ortzi]

Wintoys added a feature in the latest release that implement the latest updates to windows for the digital market act, so users outside EU can get this feature:

View attachment 288982
Just enable it and uninstall Microsoft Edge, etc.

We need market acts on the Xbox as I wanna use it as a Linux machine

 

[Marko :)]

Did anyone test this? Does it work?

 

[KnownStormChaser]

Did anyone test this? Does it work?

I can confirm you can uninstall Edge with that tweak enabled. There are actually a lot of other tweaks I used as well that work.

 

[lokamoka820]

I noticed that some settings are changed when enabling this tweak, for example I can now disable the web search in windows search without needing to change the registry or use 3rd party software:

 

[KnownStormChaser]

I noticed that some settings are changed when enabling this tweak, for example I can now disable the web search in windows search without needing to change the registry or use 3rd party software:
View attachment 289012

Yup, you can even change the web search provider in the start menu to something other than Bing if you like. But I have it disabled completely. EU has it better on so many levels with Windows.

 

[Parkinsond]

I noticed that some settings are changed when enabling this tweak, for example I can now disable the web search in windows search without needing to change the registry or use 3rd party software:
View attachment 289012

No such an option in LTSC version.

 

[lokamoka820]

Yup, you can even change the web search provider in the start menu to something other than Bing if you like. But I have it disabled completely. EU has it better on so many levels with Windows.

I disabled it too, but how to change the web search provider?

 

[SeriousHoax]

I also used this app to enable this feature one day before you posted here after seeing it on reddit.
Everything was fine but then two days later Windows spotlight wallpaper for lockscreen broke. Selecting windows spotlight didn't change lockscreen wallpaper. I also use windows spotlight for desktop wallpaper which works fine. So, it's very odd. After disabling this Digital Markets Act feature, lockscreen wallpaper with WIndows Spotlight started working again.
Very strange behavior

 

[lokamoka820]

I also used this app to enable this feature one day before you posted here after seeing it on reddit.
Everything was fine but then two days later Windows spotlight wallpaper for lockscreen broke. Selecting windows spotlight didn't change lockscreen wallpaper. I also use windows spotlight for desktop wallpaper which works fine. So, it's very odd. After disabling this Digital Markets Act feature, lockscreen wallpaper with WIndows Spotlight started working again.
Very strange behavior

I think we need to know how windows spotlight wallpaper works for users in EU to determine if this is a software error or related to Digital Market Act, @Marko :) do you have any info how windows spotlight wallpaper works for you?

 

[Marko :)]

I don't use Windows Spotlight as it was always broken for me + has ads. I use Dynamic Theme which does exactly the same and you can choose between Windows Spotlight images or Bing images.

For those interested: Dynamic Theme - Free download and install on Windows | Microsoft Store

 

[lokamoka820]

@SeriousHoax as I thought, it is not an error in Wintoys, Windows Spotlight doesn't work for EU.

 

[Marko :)]

@SeriousHoax as I thought, it is not an error in Wintoys, Windows Spotlight doesn't work for EU.

Theoretically, it should work normally in the EU. I used it briefly when I used Windows 10 few years ago and it would always show me the same default picture, and wouldn't refresh. I think it had something to do with my messing with telemetry back then. This is when I discovered Dynamic Theme and I'm using it since; now on Windows 11. I haven't tried Spotlight on Windows 11 though.

Dynamic Theme is just better, no annoying text and ads. Just clock, calendar and daily picture. But I will test Windows Spotlight for you.

Update: immediately after setting Windows Spotlight for lock screen I got this picture. We'll see if it changes tomorrow as I don't see an option to update it.