I can’t remember where I read this from, but apparently, MS has a separate install option for EU users. Sadly, Windows is a necessary evil, and avoiding it is not an option for me. I want to minimize some of the bloat that US and Canadian users get. Can I select the UK during the install, but with a US keyboard? If not, how do I get the EU edition when installing Windows 11 from the US?
Its been a long time since I’ve had to quest for a Windows installer. I have a fuzzy memory that the European edition is a completely different product from a North American purchase; not just a language toggle.
You might look for a good debloat tool to clean up Windows 11. I thought I saw a news article this year that even Windows has released a debloat tool for Windows 11.
#fedoracinnamon
Select any of the EU countries at the start of installation, then you can adjust your regional settings and keyboards.
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Also consider that UK is not in EU anymore.
This has nothing to do with politics.
Does this really work? Let’s say I select France and the US keyboard. Does it really have less bloat than selecting the US as the country?
Yes, installation country cannot be changed afterwards unless you reinstall whole OS. Regional settings have no restrictions, you can change it to whatever country you want.
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To date, Windows relies on the country you select during initial setup to determine which “legal stuff” are applicable to you. Microsoft states in its DMA (Digital Markets Act) Compliance Report:
“With respect to Windows features that to comply with the DMA behave differently in the European Economic Area (“EEA”) than in other parts of the world, Microsoft determines the geographic nexus with the EEA based on the country or region the user (or system administrator) selects when setting up a device. This country or region is established during device setup and can be changed if the user (or system administrator) conducts a factory reset of the OS and goes through setup again. Country or region settings in Windows Settings are user preferences for things such as date/time format or to provide local content and are different from the country or region selected during device setup.”
[quote="iluvprivacy, post:6, topic:29549”]
Does it really have less bloat than selecting the US as the country?
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So if, for example, you choose one of the EU’s member countries (which, as @user1 has clarified, does not include the UK), Windows will “treat” you as an EU consumer, and you’ll be able to do additional things on Windows per EU regulations, like being able to remove Microsoft Edge and decide whether you want to see results from the Web when you’re using the search box on your taskbar.
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