Ok, I've read this entire thread, and even laughed some, but the premise of this topic is strange to me.
Hopefully, some day, more guys and gals will install Windows xx the way I and some other do, , , Download an ISO of the Windows you want, from a known reputable source, then burn that ISO to a Flash Drive, using Rufus, which can remove all the MS BS, then use that USB drive to boot up your PC and perform a CLEAN INSTALL. Windows will then install as a LOCAL account, and even put in your User Name, if you like.
If you've saved all your data files to a USB Flash Drive or External HD, you can add those back in later.
Almost everything that many users hate about Microsoft Windows, will be eliminated when using that process.
I've used that same install process on all ten of my PC's and I just don't experience any of the problems that I've read about others having with Windows. I just have to shake my head in amazement, when I read about all the problems that so many Windows users report having. ???
Windows xx Home? NEVER! I use only the PRO version of Windows. It's just so much easier to install, and customize.
Cheers Mates!
TM
I don't install Windows by downloading the ISO. Instead, I buy new & unused laptops that come with pre-installed Windows.
I download the ISO, but I don't burn it to a flash drive using Rufus. Instead, I copy
all of my bootable ISO files to a Ventoy-formatted flash drive. Ventoy allows me to boot straight into
any of my bootable ISO files from just a
single flash drive. The ISO files do not need to be extracted or mounted. Simply copying them to the flash drive is all it takes.
Ventoy also bypasses Windows 11 hardware requirements by default so, Rufus isn't needed for any of all this (and, as a matter of fact, Ventoy is partially based on Rufus). But then, my laptops already meet the Windows 11 hardware requirements anyway in the first place. So, the copy of the Windows installation ISO file that I keep on my flash drive is really nothing more than just a simple backup copy of the file, that I never use, but that could still come in handy at some point in the future maybe.
I don't use a local account. Instead, I use a Microsoft account because I no longer see the benefit of using a local account on modern Windows. Windows 7 is from 2009, but we're in 2024 now. Resistance is futile, as you have already been assimilated, like, more than a whole decade ago.
I don't use the Pro edition of Windows. Instead, I use the Home edition. If you have no Home, you're Homeless! I am too lazy to install Windows. So, pre-installed or go Home doesn't actually even cut it for me. Pre-installed and
stay Home sounds much more like it TBH. Of course if you want to build your own custom desktop PC for whatever the reasons you might have, then sure, doing a clean install of Windows is still going to be a necessary step in the process. As for easy customizations. I already have them. So, I fail to see your point about that particular part of the subject.
Now, let's talk about problems that so many Windows users report having. For the most part, I just stay away from built-in features from Microsoft that I know are broken and/or are lacking, or are otherwise counter-productive in such a way that I can't easily find a fix or workaround. I use the combination of customizations and 3rd party apps/tools in addition to my own programming/scripting skills to avoid running into problems whenever they are possible to avoid with relative ease.
I wouldn't be able to achieve this if I hadn't invested an enormous amount of time experimenting with, and reading up on all sorts of topics related to, Windows and Windows software. I have more than 39 years of experience with software products from Microsoft. Most users don't spend nearly as much effort or time learning about the stuff.
Further, I try to avoid letting myself become overly dependent on various features if I can almost smell that these are going to be the kind of features that will most likely be withdrawn before they can grow to were they can start to add some real value for me. Microsoft is the number one champion of taking one step forward, two steps backward when it comes to making improvements to large parts of the user experience. They focus on something big, which flops, and, next, they try to undo the changes.
The end result of making these changes is that Microsoft trying to undo them causes more harm in addition to time wasted on making them in the first place. Improvements that matter to the user are given low priority status or else these improvements already are abandoned even before they even stand a reasonable chance to get carried out. Then when Microsoft finally decides to do something about some of it, what you usually get is some kind of half baked surrogate. One that, in one way or another, tries to mimic exactly that which had previously been removed/abandoned as a sacrifice, i.e., among various other sacrifices that were made in exchange for that which flopped soon after all these big promises and all these sacrifices were made.
arstechnica.com
