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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

#241

Post by tambre »

orthoxerox wrote: post #202
cookiengineer wrote: post #178

Pro Hint: due to licensing issues and EU regulations, "Windows Pro Education N" is pretty much the most bloatware free version, as it's also compliant with HIPAA. - No media codecs - No AI recording/transcription features due to missing media codecs - No cortana - No Teams upselling, no Office upselling, no Skype - No self installing games

I installed the N version once, and the lack of media codecs was infuriating. Most programs assume they are always present, so the error messages they give are cryptic and the average user won't guess the problem lies in their Windows having been N(eutered). What's worse, Microsoft website provides several guides that explain how to install the codecs, and they all contradict each other. I think https://support.micro…

The fact that made me switch away from the N edition was the fact that the separately installable media codecs weren't available for weeks after my computer auto-updated to a new major Windows release. This basically made my computer unusable for many regular tasks I did, since as you noted most programs assume they're available.

Re: De-crufted Windows 11 coming to Europe soon

#242

Post by illwrks »

gloosx wrote: post #187

I remember the first time I used a Windows system last year after tens of years on Linux/OSX, and it was really a somewhat strange experience: the moment I connected the ethernet cable I was instantly looking at random flashy news articles from another part of the world. Not in the browser, not in some kind of "News" app, but right in my taskbar! The most amazing part is that I did not even have to click on it – the…

I had the same experience, I used Mac exclusively for almost 20 years.

I use a Mac for 99% of my work also and I have an employer supplied neutered PC which is generally fine.

I purchased a personal PC laptop with Windows "Pro"... What a sh!t experience. Riddled with rubbish and distractions.

Re: De-crufted Windows 11 coming to Europe soon

#243

Post by walteweiss »

alok-g wrote: post #228

>> Camera, Cortana, and Photos can now be uninstalled When a user would uninstall an app, would it actually be removed from the system, or just the icons and entries would be. Motivation for asking: Several built-in apps are listed in the Apps section of the settings as having just a few kB in size, which does not match how bloated in size apps typically are in the current times. I've seen mouse drivers occupy hundre…

As with my iPhone that has none of Voice Memos at the moment has data shown as 4 GB. I remove the app, nothing changes, it frees some kilobytes for the app (which I doubt, that the app is in kilobytes) and leaves the data, while it claims it keeps the data only when I unload the app to the cloud.

Re: De-crufted Windows 11 coming to Europe soon

#244

Post by lynx23 »

pavlov wrote: post #219
gloosx wrote: post #187

I remember the first time I used a Windows system last year after tens of years on Linux/OSX, and it was really a somewhat strange experience: the moment I connected the ethernet cable I was instantly looking at random flashy news articles from another part of the world. Not in the browser, not in some kind of "News" app, but right in my taskbar! The most amazing part is that I did not even have to click on it – the…

> "the system carefully opened it for me to delight me with some low-quality not-even-local news" To be fair, Apple does this exact same thing on their operating system. On a freshly installed iPhone, swipe right at the home screen. It takes you to the widget screen which is loaded by default with Apple News showing random junk. Microsoft deserves the flak for turning Windows 11 into a billboard, but Apple isn't immu…

This is only true if you are in a country which is supported by Apple News. Mine isn't.

Re: De-crufted Windows 11 coming to Europe soon

#245

Post by alkonaut »

weinzierl wrote: post #215
BlarfMcFlarf wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because while corruption* is still rampant in the EU, it’s not at least directly protected by the constitution like in the USA, so occasionally some legislation that benefits normal folks over megacorporations manages to sneak through. *also known as lobbying with so much money you can buy millions of times as much “free” speech as everyone else.

It's not about "benefits normal folks" at all, but about keeping foreign competition at arms length while fostering EU companies.

That must be why I have one-click filed my taxes on my phone for the last 15 years while TurboTax et.al. prevents the same thing in the US. Foreign competition.

Re: De-crufted Windows 11 coming to Europe soon

#246

Post by hurryer »

alok-g wrote: post #228

>> Camera, Cortana, and Photos can now be uninstalled When a user would uninstall an app, would it actually be removed from the system, or just the icons and entries would be. Motivation for asking: Several built-in apps are listed in the Apps section of the settings as having just a few kB in size, which does not match how bloated in size apps typically are in the current times. I've seen mouse drivers occupy hundre…

Some Windows binaries are hard linked to run directly from the installation disk image copied during Windows install .

Those few kb are probably the size of the hard links to the image.

Re: De-crufted Windows 11 coming to Europe soon

#248

Post by blackoil »

hurril wrote: post #234
pavlov wrote: post #224

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple preloads the phone with commercial apps that I didn't ask for like Apple Music, and those apps will get automatically triggered for some content. They show news and other unsolicited content practically in the home screen (the widget screen is just a swipe away, every user will stumble there). What's the difference? I think people are a bit blind to Apple's defaults. They compare a fresh Windows 11 install to t…

Yes, it does come with Apple Music (and whatever Apple News it - perhaps I've missed it?) And they do nag about using Apple Music a lot. I dislike that they do this and Apple can be criticised for a million different things. 1) this is not it; 2) this is not what Microsoft is doing. It has filled the Dock with (all) Apple apps the last 15+ years. I don't quite understand why you're comparing a desktop OS to the phone…

Let's compare apps from the article.

"Camera, Cortana/CoPilot, and Photos can now be uninstalled". Mac and iOS come with PhotoBooth/Camera, Siri and Photos preinstalled, I don't think can be removed.

"No Bing, no Edge, no upselling." You can't remove Safari, comes with upselling to Apple drive.

Apple also comes preinstalled with Maps, Music, BookReader, NewsClient, MailClient, TV app, Notes app. For all I have better alternatives so tonnes of bloat and at worse many of them can't be completely disabled. They keep popping at some unexpected places.

For that matter popular linux distros come with similar apps, though through some maze in installer you may have been able to skip them.

Re: De-crufted Windows 11 coming to Europe soon

#249

Post by lofaszvanitt »

Jean-Papoulos wrote: post #201

The EU just keeps winning on the big tech front, it seems. I'm honestly not sure how they keep doing it ; is the motivation to keep away influence from big tech ? Giving a bit of stick now so the carrot is more efficient later ?

Can't you see what happened in the US, where these big tech monkeys are roaming around, free, doing whatever they want?

Re: De-crufted Windows 11 coming to Europe soon

#250

Post by mike_d »

orthoxerox wrote: post #202
cookiengineer wrote: post #178

Pro Hint: due to licensing issues and EU regulations, "Windows Pro Education N" is pretty much the most bloatware free version, as it's also compliant with HIPAA. - No media codecs - No AI recording/transcription features due to missing media codecs - No cortana - No Teams upselling, no Office upselling, no Skype - No self installing games

I installed the N version once, and the lack of media codecs was infuriating. Most programs assume they are always present, so the error messages they give are cryptic and the average user won't guess the problem lies in their Windows having been N(eutered). What's worse, Microsoft website provides several guides that explain how to install the codecs, and they all contradict each other. I think https://support.micro…

I thought I would be clever and install the N edition of Windows 11, took me nearly two weeks to figure out what extra bits needed to be installed to allow a webcam to work.
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