Windows 11: Microsoft is cleaning up the preinstalled apps, and it’s not any worse!

Windows lightens up a little. Microsoft removed a few pre-installed apps in the latest version of Windows 11.

Bye-Bye, Windows Cards and Windows Movies & TV? In the latest version of its star OS, Microsoft no longer installs these two applications by default. Enough to lighten the Windows system image a little, while leaving users free to reinstall the software if necessary.

A minor change, but welcome

For the moment, this change is only visible in build 25987. The latter has just been published in the “Canary” distribution channel, i.e. the most unstable versions of the OS. This update branch is reserved for developers or the most curious fans. It is therefore not recommended to switch to it if you do not know what you are doing.

In addition, the deletion of the two applications is only effective during a “fresh” installation of the build concerned. If you update your system from a version that contains these two tools, they will not disappear in the process. To put it more simply, for the general public, these applications will no longer be pre-installed during an installation (or reinstallation) of Windows 11 within a few months, when this version of the system will arrive in the stable distribution branch.

Microsoft still wants to reassure users of these applications. “Windows Maps and Windows Movies and TV […] will remain available and updated via the Microsoft Store», Explains the company, but Windows 11 will soon no longer include them by default. This change in the “Canary” build also coincides with the announcement of the removal of an old chat and email application in version 23H2 of Windows.

Microsoft plays the good role

If the change is minor (each application weighing only a few megas at most), Microsoft’s desire to declutter its system is rather pleasing. Windows 11 still has a reputation as a demanding and heavy OS that many machines cannot run. Any application deletion is a good idea since it limits the space taken up in storage space.

This autumn cleaning is also a way for Microsoft to play the good role in the face of European regulations. The newly adopted DMA more strictly regulates the reinstallation of applications on an OS. By removing this in-house software, Microsoft can thus prove to Brussels that it is not necessarily seeking to favor its own services to the detriment of those of the competition.

Source : Neowin