Windows 11 now shows a full-screen pop-up to use OneDrive and protect your PC

As we know, any thread about windows updates are actually threads about Linux. As such, I recently did a test. It wasn't a particularly scientific test, but it was interesting.

I checked how long it took to do a clean install of windows and get all of my normal applications installed and signed into plus the time it took to turn off as much of the crap like this as I could. It was around two hours all told.

I did the same experiment but spinning up Arch, installing all of my normal applications, and getting all of my normal windows-only applications running through Proton or Wine, and it came in at 90 minutes.

My tech illiterate wife has been running Arch on the laptop for six months now with exactly one piece of additional fiddling - every couple of weeks she has to run pacman -S discord. Linux is very user friendly for normal users and has been for years. Doing weird things will still be a struggle sometimes, but the average user probably wouldn't notice a difference if you threw a windowsish taskbar on the bottom.

Every time I get annoyed that Apple nags the shit out of you to try any of their services you haven’t signed up for, I remember how much worse Windows is.

(I’m mostly joking. It’s just as bad when Apple or Samsung does it.)

This isn't a solution for everyone, but if you're interested in Windows 11 but don't want to deal with most of these things, opt for the professional edition. Professional includes group policy editor, which can disable the majority of annoyances. I've done a few registry edits as well. I've saved a list of edits I've made if anyone is interested.

As much as I hate Windows and what it's become for my own personal use, I have to say that this most recent time I visited my elderly parents (early 70s), I was kind of surprised at how not-awful their computers were, comparatively speaking. Their files were being backed up to OneDrive, they didn't have any weird malware or spyware nagging at them, they weren't signed up for any weird subscriptions that they don't need (one could arguably say Microsoft 365 is that, but they were actually using it as a backup and both of them use Word regularly so I give it a pass), and everything was behaving relatively sanely. I'm used to finding nonsense like 3 competing antivirus programs, malicious browser toolbars, malware nag screens, and all kinds of horrifying things, but it seems that Windows is doing a pretty good job of helping them avoid all that nonsense now.

So as much as Windows is not for me, I think it's actually doing a much better job of stewarding non-computer-savvy people like my parents away from all the pitfalls and dangers that they used to succumb to on a regular basis.

On a related note, I also found it kind of fascinating/horrifying how much my dad now relies on Microsoft's AI features. Like when he does a Bing search, a very clear and obvious link to click could be the top result, but he doesn't even register that the normal results exist anymore--instead he stares and waits for the AI summary to fill up with text and then clicks whatever links it gives him there (even if they're objectively going to be less useful). The example that springs to mind is he searched something like "How do I log into [his bank name]'s website?", and the top result was "[his bank name] - Login." The AI response clearly didn't fully understand the specificity of his question and gave a generic "here's how you log into a website" answer with a link to some government article about online banking, and he clicked that one instead of even looking at the search results. It would almost be comical if it wasn't so Dark Mirror-y.

There are various freeware applications that can disable windows ads, nagging, onedrive, telemetry, etc..

I highly recommend using one. Even if you're comfortable editing the registry or group policies, there is so much that needs to be changed in recent versions of Windows and updates sometimes roll back changes.

O&O ShutUp10++ is my favorite, both because it does pretty much everything I want it to do and because it's easy enough to use that I can recommend it to non tech savvy people. Support the dev if you can! (No affiliation, I don't know them, just appreciate their work).

I really wish Microsoft would knock this IAP stuff off with Windows, because honestly I do really like Windows 11. The design language speaks to me, the window snapping (with the presets bar at the top) is top class, the terminal app is very nice, and I really like the focus timer built into the clock (small feature I know).

I really don't like Windows... but I went with W11 Enterprise and I don't get any of this bullshit. There are other quirks, though. I don't think I could ever go full time with it. MacOS is the best balance since I still work with the Adobe suite, but if I didn't, it'd be Linux all day without question.

This really isn't anything new. Ever since Windows 10 released the trend was there and it will simply go on until something changes or until it reaches maximum monetization and I am not sure this concept is even understood in this economy.

I am sure I'll leave out something here but so far on Windows there is required online account, forced telemetry, forced updates, ads in the os, nagware, bloatware, constantly degrading functionality, patronizing/degrading language.

There seems to be a really strong current in society of glorifying computer illiteracy which is one of the reasons this os can do what it does, along with complacency, unwillingness to let go of fake convenience and defacto monopoly.