Microsoft drops Windows Maps, TV and Movies apps from new Windows 11 installs – here’s what it means for users

Microsoft seems to have scrubbed Windows Maps and Movies & TV apps from fresh installations of Windows 11, starting with Windows 11 Build 25987, which was released to Windows Insiders, a Microsoft’s official community for Windows enthusiasts and industry professionals to try out previews of new versions of Windows and features.

To be clear, if you’re using a previous version of Windows 11, you won’t be affected by this even if you upgrade to Windows 11 Build 25897. Your Windows Maps and Movies & TV apps will continue to be on your device. Also, Microsoft reportedly hasn’t given any indication that these apps are being killed off, as you can still get them from the Microsoft Store, and they will continue to be updated. 

What it does mean is that if you perform a clean install of Windows 11 going forward from today, those two apps will not be pre-installed. Microsoft has confirmed all of the above in a Windows Insider Blog post, but has not elaborated on why it’s made this decision. NeoWin points out that you can delete them if you like, and doing so frees up only a few megabytes of disk memory. It’s hard to say at this point what the fate of these two apps will be, considering that they’re rarely updated and that Microsoft recently removed offline support for Windows Maps. 

Windows Movies and TV

(Image credit: Microsoft)

What's the impact of this move?

Most Windows users may not even be aware of these apps, so they will probably not be sorely missed by those that do a clean installation of Windows 11 from now on. 

It does, however, look like Microsoft is taking steps to optimize and streamline the Windows 11 operating system in general. In the most recent major version update, Windows 11 23H2, we saw the Chat removed and its functionality be absorbed into the free version of Microsoft Teams. We also saw the removal of the old Mail app. 

These are more minor changes, in my opinion, but attention to detail like this can pay off as Windows has sometimes had the reputation of being a rather cluttered and bloated operating system, especially compared to macOS and ChromeOS. I think this bodes well for the type of operating system Microsoft is trying to turn Windows 11 into, especially with the new intense focus on AI with Windows Copilot and hybrid computing

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Secret trick installs Windows 11 without the bloatware – but Microsoft is looking to fix it

One of Windows 11’s most frustrating habits is filling your PC with apps and games you don’t want or use – but a new trick has been discovered that lets you install Windows 11 without all that junk.

As Windows Latest found, the trick is pretty easy to pull off – all you need to do is set your region to English (World) during the setup process.

Choosing this (or European English) in the ‘Time and currency format’ drop-down list during setup causes an issue where Windows 11’s setup services cannot communicate with Microsoft’s services, due to them using the en-001 and en-150 language codes.

This causes an “OOBEREGION” error message to appear. While that might seem a little scary (it even puts the error name in red, just for emphasis), you can select ‘Skip’ which will continue with the installation.

Even better, it means you’ll end up with a fresh Windows 11 installation with no annoying bloatware – just the basic, essential, apps.

Bloatware begone!

“Bloatware” is the less-than charitable name for apps and games that come pre-installed on your devices. If you’ve ever bought a PC or laptop from a major manufacturer, you’ll likely find that the first time you boot up Windows 11, there are a load of additional applications already installed, such as trials for anti-virus software.

While some pre-installed apps may be useful, for most people, these applications are never used, and simply take up space on your hard drive, slow down Windows when it boots, and can even throw up annoying pop-up notifications asking you to subscribe.

Sadly, in recent years, Microsoft has been getting in on the act as well, which means even if you build your own PC, or perform a clean install of Windows 11, there will still be unwanted apps included.

So, this rather useful trick is certainly welcome, as it’ll mean you’ll get a much cleaner experience, and your Start menu will only be filled with essential Windows apps, as well as any apps you install yourself.

This doesn’t stop third-party apps from your laptop manufacturer appearing, but if you want to perform a clean install from Microsoft’s own installation software (rather than from the software your PC/laptop manufacturer provides), then you’ll get a fresh bloatware-free version of Windows 11.

You’ll need to put your region back to your current location when done, to make sure everything works as normal.

Unfortunately, this workaround may not last forever, as Windows Latest reports that a Microsoft spokesperson told the website that the company was aware of it, and is looking into it.

That means Microsoft is likely to patch this out in an upcoming Windows 11 update. This is a shame, but not entirely surprising. Like manufacturers of the best laptops, Microsoft likely gets money from the makers of the apps and games it preinstalls, so it’ll want to make sure they get installed.

This workaround also exploits an issue with how Microsoft’s services struggle to handle some language codes, and the company will also be keen to fix that, especially if it could lead to other, less useful, side effects.

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Windows 11 reportedly installs optional update without asking – and it’s causing trouble

Windows 11’s latest optional update – which is a preview of Moment 3 (KB5026446) – is causing trouble for some users, coming with some bugs, and worse still, in some reported cases the upgrade is installing itself automatically.

Windows Latest reports that it experienced the installation of KB5026446 going ahead automatically when updates were checked for on the PC. Note that as an optional update, one that might contain gremlins in the works (which it apparently does), the user should have to manually trigger the update.

In other words, you should have to choose to install this preview update, it should not be installing automatically.

Windows Latest observes that it has received reports from readers that this unexpected installation of KB5026446 has occurred, and indeed, elsewhere online we’ve seen other reports of this happening (even, in some cases, if people hadn’t checked for updates).

As for the problems the Moment 3 preview update is causing, there are various reports of diverse issues, as you might expect with a patch still in testing. One of those is that it breaks the Microsoft Store, or messes with the Game Pass on PC (making games unplayable, we’re told).

There are other reports of worrying system freezes, some apps failing to open, and the keyboards and mice of some users failing to work post-update.

There were installation failures too, with the usual meaningless error messages (strings of hexadecimal), but that’s pretty much par for the course these days it seems with Windows 11.


Analysis: The clue is in the name – ‘optional’

The good news, well, such as it is, is that in all these cases, simply uninstalling the update (via Windows Update, under Update History) cured the PCs of the various ailments mentioned. The galling bit here is for the folks who didn’t want to install the optional update in the first place, of course.

How widespread is this issue with the KB5026446 preview update installing itself? It’s difficult to say, but it is certainly happening for a number of folks. Windows Latest does observe that if you do check for updates, and notice it installing, if you hit ‘Pause Updates’ that’ll cancel the installation. So that’s worth bearing in mind.

One theory is that this sneaky installation may be tied in to those who have selected the new option in Windows 11 to ‘Get the latest updates as soon as they’re available’ (and using that is necessary to enable Moment 3’s new features in KB5026446, as Bleeping Computer previously made clear).

However, even if you have selected this choice, you should not be getting an optional update piped through with no warning at all (especially when you haven’t even checked for updates, as seems to be happening in some cases). Optional updates should always be exactly that – an option, not an automatic installation (and certainly not one occuring stealthily behind the scenes, as it were).

Hopefully we’ll hear from Microsoft soon enough to clarify what’s going on here.

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