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De-crufted Windows 11 coming to Europe soon

arstechnica.com

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Re: De-crufted Windows 11 coming to Europe soon

#3

Post by aetherspawn »

Suppose you are buying a new laptop ... does anyone else feel sad that their operating system has effectively turned into some weird social media marketing tracking data harvesting hybrid of a thing?

But in the name of progress and security, you can't stay on Windows 10. So for me it's this weird middle ground right now .. waiting for either Windows to U-turn, die out, or for more work apps to port to OS X.

Re: De-crufted Windows 11 coming to Europe soon

#4

Post by crunchyfrog »

Mindless2112 wrote: post #2

> Microsoft's post notes that Windows uses the region picked during Windows install to offer the EEA-exclusive options. Only a PC reset can undo the options. Looks like I will be telling Windows that I live in the EEA next time I install.

I too will only install Windows in Ireland from now on.

Re: De-crufted Windows 11 coming to Europe soon

#6

Post by tonymet »

aetherspawn wrote: post #3

Suppose you are buying a new laptop ... does anyone else feel sad that their operating system has effectively turned into some weird social media marketing tracking data harvesting hybrid of a thing? But in the name of progress and security, you can't stay on Windows 10. So for me it's this weird middle ground right now .. waiting for either Windows to U-turn, die out, or for more work apps to port to OS X.

In a few minutes you can make Windows 11 look pretty close to Windows 7 (or 10) by disabling personalization, content , widgets, new tab content. In edge disable all of the new tools and bing integration.

You’re right about the hassle of doing it manually, and I wish there were a global “Windows 2k mode” that ran the OS as lean as possible.

Re: De-crufted Windows 11 coming to Europe soon

#8

Post by ocdtrekkie »

zacksiri wrote: post #7

This is one of the marks of good product managers. Cut the cruft from the product. It's refreshing that in this case regulators are cutting things from the product rather than enforcing things to be added like cookie banners.

Regulators didn't enforce cookie banners. Cookie banners are a form of malicious compliance. When you complain about them, you are doing the lobbying work of ad companies for free. The correct solution is to just not spy on people, and the problem is that the EU didn't go far enough and just ban the behavior altogether.

Re: De-crufted Windows 11 coming to Europe soon

#9

Post by dannyw »

tonymet wrote: post #6
aetherspawn wrote: post #3

Suppose you are buying a new laptop ... does anyone else feel sad that their operating system has effectively turned into some weird social media marketing tracking data harvesting hybrid of a thing? But in the name of progress and security, you can't stay on Windows 10. So for me it's this weird middle ground right now .. waiting for either Windows to U-turn, die out, or for more work apps to port to OS X.

In a few minutes you can make Windows 11 look pretty close to Windows 7 (or 10) by disabling personalization, content , widgets, new tab content. In edge disable all of the new tools and bing integration. You’re right about the hassle of doing it manually, and I wish there were a global “Windows 2k mode” that ran the OS as lean as possible.

Pay for Enterprise and a lot of it is pre disabled. Others can be configured via group policy.

Re: De-crufted Windows 11 coming to Europe soon

#10

Post by 6510 »

aetherspawn wrote: post #3

Suppose you are buying a new laptop ... does anyone else feel sad that their operating system has effectively turned into some weird social media marketing tracking data harvesting hybrid of a thing? But in the name of progress and security, you can't stay on Windows 10. So for me it's this weird middle ground right now .. waiting for either Windows to U-turn, die out, or for more work apps to port to OS X.

No man, it is a fantastic adventure! Like a video game you have to carefully move the mouse to not trigger popups, there are quests on how to disable things and you have to make choices with real consequences. The game is almost as good as HP printers. In the end, if we collectively press the wrong button often enough, things will get bad enough to intellectually enrage the law makers.

Or perhaps it will just turn into a self running slot machine powered by tokens earned though full screen always on top porn adverts while AI guesses what kind of work you would otherwise be trying to get done. No more subscriptions or products to purchase: Unlock 3 extra days of Excel by buying something on Amazon! Maybe workers will have to defeat n levels of candy crush to unlock Word processing for the day. Perhaps always-on PC's will become the norm and Bing will watch and guide us 24/7 - into the future!

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