Microsoft is to more clearly label search results in the Windows 11 Start Menu. It will better highlight which results come from the computer itself and which are from the Internet. The change will initially apply only to users in the European Economic Area and appears to be a way of complying with new rules on the continent. It’s not clear yet if Microsoft intends to roll the changes out to all users.
It’s all to do with the search feature that appears in the Start Menu itself. The current setup means typing a word or phrase will bring up results that include documents and applications on the computer along with websites. Microsoft’s own Bing search engine provides the latter.
However, members of the Windows 11 Insider program in Europe have spotted the latest preview release has a different approach. While the same results appear, they are now split into distinct tabs, with “Windows” results on one tab and “Web search from Bing” on the other. This appears to be a tweak to continue the changes Microsoft made to comply with the Digital Markets Act. That’s a European law designed to promote competition online. Broadly it affects major companies who dominate a particular area of technology, have a large number of users, or both.
The law limits the ways companies that operate in different markets can use their position in one to favor their operations in another. In this case, it’s about Microsoft’s positions in both the operating system and search markets.
Previously Microsoft agreed to give users more control over the inclusion and prominence of the Edge browser in Windows 11 and to have the ability to change which search engines are used to deliver results in the Windows Search tools.
While this move appears to be about compliance, it might be an improvement for users who don’t care what search engine is used for this feature and simply want to be able to search their computers without seeing online search results.