Proton is able to run just about anything now, not just games. Stop using Microsoft Operating Systems where you can and mark them as needing replacement with real software in all your reports.
Does anyone know any good "debloat" scripts to disable all these modern features of Windows 11 and bring me back to something that resembles the Windows I grew up with?
I'm having a hard time keeping track of all of the registry keys and config settings I need to update to keep this crap at bay.
So glad I switched to Linux and got away from this garbage. Now I have to convince my employer to also allow Linux on their workstations.
Windows 7 was the last good OS from MSFT but even that had a bit of telemetry.
> To those that arrive here from any Youtube or Twitter posts, please know that disabling Recall via DISM works fine, and preserves the modern File Explorer (though some might consider this an anti-feature). CBS correctly disables it, and the disablement is preserved through reboots, just like with any other feature.
Wake up people, you are in a toxic relationship with your OS. You can do better.
If people would like to "try Linux before you buy," check out DistroSea! It spins up a virtual machine of whatever distro and flavour you choose to try.
What about Attorneys and Doctors who have protected health information and client privileged information? Are they not to use Microsoft Products now?
What about any company with Trade Secret information? Are they also not to use Microsoft Products now?
If this is a reliable way to revert Explorer back to the non-ribbon version, I hope they’ll keep this in.
People aren’t people. They’re not citizens.
We are consumers, labeled and binned.
Our constitution might as well read: ‘We the Product…’.
I thought I make a generic reply instead of replying at every comment below:
People don't use Windows over Linux because they prefer the Windows environment/experience. They use it because of the applications, and to some degree the drivers, that are not available in Linux.
Participating in a thread that makes me feel a little better about myself.
I just spent an hour and a half getting my friend's email account untied from my local Windows account after she typed it into Windows Store once.
Involved having to remove all kinds of system files and many registry keys, some that did not contain the email string at all, but encrypted versions of it (IdentityCRL)
This spyware is out of control. The worst part is they do all this and all their telemetry based products are still useless Clippy garbage that helps absolutely nobody do anything better or faster.
Isn't this the old trick MICROS~1 pulled trying to claim IE was part of the base OS. They cooked it so that IE was the DNS of the filemanager when upgrading to IE4.
For those looking to dual boot but not deal with the hassle of Windows breaking boot sectors:
https://www.tomshardware.com/how-to/create-portable-windows-...
Rufus + Windows To Go + an external SSD = I'm able to use windows when I want, the rest of the time it stays in a drawer.
Is Ubuntu the best for a touchscreen? Is there a specific flavour people are happy with? I prefer to keep to Ubuntu if possible as I use it as my daily. I have a HP laptop I got a year or two ago with a pen. It's literally the only thing holding me back from switching on that machine. I have run debloat tools on it but Windows doesn't respect that with subsequent updates.
Can OP explain what they've linked to or further link to the actual comment discussing Recall.
I'm not a windows user myself, but I'm curious what you windows users think about this.
Long ago when I last used it at home I used to run the Windows without explorer.exe. I believe I did it via editing a key or keys in the registry. Wonder if it still works today with more recent Windows versions.
Related:
Controversial Windows Recall AI Search Tool Returns with Proof-of-Presence
Wow. Windows Explorer is literally spyware now. it's incredible to see how far Windows has slid down the tubes, and I say this as someone who LOVED Windows.
Just a reminder that Windows Defender has flagged certain versions of ExplorerPatcher as a virus.
The last time I updated Windows 11 was to fix the IPV6 RCE vulnerability, but other than that I have updates blocked.
If it comes to Windows 10 I'll have to go for a Linux machine.
Yeah this is it for me, cleaning up my windows installation and backing up my files, going to move to some linux distro this month.
Despite lots of good info here, it's devolved into yet another "just switch to Linux" thread. Sigh.
I hadn't heard of this feature before, but WTF? Who thought AI parsing everything you do on your system would be a good idea?! I want zero to do with this "feature".
Every single day I am given more reasons never to use Windows again. Glad I moved to Linux early this year. My next desktop will likely be a System76 to ensure Microsoft doesn't get a cut from my next purchase, and it supports a business that supports Linux.
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For those who don't know, Microsoft Recall is a system that screenshots what you do every few seconds, and uses OpenAI's vision api to allow search on eveything you did in the past.
There's an article from Sep 27th where they promise you'll be able to uninstall Recall: https://www.theverge.com/2024/9/27/24255721/microsoft-window... , not sure what that means for this explorer.exe dependency.