Following up with my own experiences over the last three months since I deinstalled Edge, Copilot, OneDrive and some other unwanted intrusive MS-****. (Now I'm not saying that these are not great bits of software for those who want to use them. But I don't).
I think it was disabling the EdgeUpdate stuff that cured my new computer. Anyway none of these superfluous bits of software are present on my computer since November. The only "annoyance" is the Windows Taskbar search. It is addicted to Edge and anytime I use it for a search it offers to install Edge. At which point I remember my foolishness and cut and paste to a browser of choice.
I guess MS doesn't read these boards because there is no notion of any change on their side. I recall that MS got a heavy fine from the EU for pushing Internet Explorer and I hope there is another in works for Edge, Copilot and OneDrive. The circumstances seem very similar.