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.
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