Microsoft’s recent moves in Canary and Insider channels suggest the long‑running tug‑of‑war over whether Windows 11 will keep forcing Edge and Bing for taskbar searches may finally be loosening — but the change is still an experiment, regionally motivated, and far from guaranteed to ship...
Microsoft appears to be testing a change that would let the Windows 11 taskbar search respect the browser and search engine you set as defaults — meaning a typed query could open in Chrome with Google (or in your preferred browser/search combination) instead of being routed to Microsoft Edge and...
Microsoft has quietly altered the Windows 10 Extended Security Updates (ESU) program to give consumers across the European Economic Area a one‑year window of free security updates — but the relief comes with narrow eligibility rules, mandatory Microsoft account sign‑ins, and a hard deadline that...
Microsoft will keep releasing security updates for Windows 10 for one extra year in the European Economic Area, but the relief is strictly regional—and the fine print matters more than the headlines.
Background
Microsoft has set October 14, 2025 as the official end-of-support date for Windows...
Microsoft’s push to make Edge an “AI browser” took a decisive step this year with an update that gives Copilot the ability to act on users’ behalf inside the browser — opening and navigating tabs, running searches, and executing multi-step tasks like bookings and form-filling when explicitly...
Microsoft’s last-minute concession is a win for European consumers: the company will provide a one-year, no-cost extension of critical security updates for Windows 10 users inside the European Economic Area (EEA), while users elsewhere still face a mixed bag of free-but‑conditional enrollment, a...
digitalmarketsact
eea
eea policy
end of support
enterprise it strategy
esu pricing
eu consumer protection
extended security updates
security updates
uk
windows 10
windows 10 end of life
windows 10 esu
windows 11 migration
windows 11 upgrade
Microsoft just reversed course for millions of users in the European Economic Area: Windows 10 owners in those countries can enroll in the consumer Extended Security Updates (ESU) program at no cost for one year, but the lifeline comes with strict limits, mandatory account ties, and a...
Microsoft’s last‑minute reversal means consumers inside the European Economic Area (EEA) can now claim a free, one‑year stream of Windows 10 Extended Security Updates (ESU) without the previously announced requirement to enable Windows Backup or redeem Microsoft Rewards — a narrowly scoped...
Microsoft’s last-minute shift on Windows 10 extended security updates has turned what looked like a tidy, paid “escape hatch” into a regional free-for-all — and exposed a tangle of regulatory, privacy, and security trade-offs that matter for millions of PCs worldwide.
Background
Microsoft will...
Microsoft has agreed to provide a no‑cost, one‑year extension of Windows 10 security updates for consumer PCs in the European Economic Area (EEA), altering the enrollment conditions that drew criticism and sparking a fresh debate about regional fragmentation, planned obsolescence, and user...
Microsoft has agreed to give consumers inside the European Economic Area (EEA) a one‑year safety net of Extended Security Updates (ESU) for Windows 10 without the backup‑to‑OneDrive condition that originally accompanied the free enrollment path — a concession driven by sustained pressure from...
Microsoft has quietly recalibrated its Windows 10 end-of-life playbook for European consumers, agreeing to provide a no-cost year of Extended Security Updates (ESU) for personal devices in the European Economic Area (EEA) after pressure from consumer organisations — but the fix is partial...
Microsoft’s last-minute carve‑out for Europe has turned what looked like a costly, conditional “grace period” for Windows 10 into a consumer-friendly, one‑year security lifeline — but it is a carefully limited lifeline with binding conditions and real trade‑offs that every user should understand...
Microsoft has quietly backtracked on a controversial condition for consumer Extended Security Updates (ESU) for Windows 10 — but the reversal comes with important caveats that mean the relief is real for European users, yet narrower than many headlines suggested.
Background / Overview
Microsoft...
Microsoft’s surprise reversal on Extended Security Updates (ESU) hands many European Windows 10 users a full extra year of security patches — at no cost — but the concession comes with conditions, a ticking clock, and important caveats users must understand before they relax.
Background...
digitalmarketsact
eea europe
enrollment account
enrollment guidance
eu consumer rights
european consumer rights
european union
free security updates
microsoft policy
security updates esu
software lifecycle
software updates
windows 10 esu
windows 10 esu europe
Microsoft has quietly reversed course: consumers inside the European Economic Area (EEA) can now enroll in a one‑year Extended Security Updates (ESU) program for Windows 10 at no additional charge — but the details are messy, the carve‑out is regional, and several questions about conditions and...
Microsoft just gave Windows 10 users one last lifeline — but the window to grab it is small, conditional, and full of trade-offs you need to understand before you act.
Overview
Microsoft will stop regular security updates for consumer editions of Windows 10 on October 14, 2025, but it is...
consumer protection
consumer rights privacy
consumer security updates
cybersecurity
digitalmarketsactdigital rights europe
eea
eea concession
eea esu
eea europe
eea policy
end of support
end of support 2025
end of support windows 10
enrollment account
enrollment guidance
enterprise it strategy
esu enrollment
esu pricing
eu consumer protection
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europe
europe consumer rights
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european economic area
european regulation
european union
extended security updates
free security updates
microsoft account
microsoft policy
migration planning
migration to windows 11
msa sign in
onedrive backup exemption
planned obsolescence e waste
platform regulation
privacy concerns
privacy security
secure boot certificates
security lifecycle
security updates
security updates esu
software lifecycle
software updates
tech policy
uk
windows 10
windows 10 end of life
windows 10 esu
windows 10 esu europe
windows 11 migration
windows 11 upgrade
windows 22h2
windows esu europe
windows ten esu
windows update
windows upgrade
Microsoft’s latest move on Windows 10 Extended Security Updates (ESU) changes the late-life calculus for millions of PCs: users inside the European Economic Area (EEA) will be able to get the one‑year ESU extension without the previously announced conditions, while the rest of the world still...
Three weeks is not a long time in the life of a PC, but when that window sits directly ahead of a fixed end-of-support deadline it becomes a hard stop: Windows 10 will stop receiving routine security and quality updates on October 14, 2025, and every Windows 10 user now has three practical...
22h2 windows 10
channel sales strategy
chromeos flex
cloud backup
cloud pc migration
cloud pc windows 365
consumer esu
consumer rights europe
digitalmarketsact
dma regulation
e waste
eea
eea region
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electronic waste
end of life
end of support
end of support 2025
environmental impact
esu enrollment options
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Microsoft has quietly begun serving a new, highly visual Bing ad that places a full “scoreboard” comparison between Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome above Chrome’s official download links on Windows 11 — a move that reframes a user’s intent at the precise moment they look to switch browsers and...
advertising ethics
ai personalization
antitrust risk
bing
bing ads
browser competition
browser nudges
browser wars
built-in vpn
chrome browser
chromium based
copilot
dark patterns
default apps
default browser
digitalmarketsact
dma
edge browser
edge vpn
google chrome
microsoft ecosystem
microsoft edge
microsoft rewards
open web
os nudges
privacy and security
promotional banners
regulatory scrutiny
server-side experiments
ui design
user choice
windows 11