(Mostly) mandatory Microsoft account sign-in.

yea you can just create a local account lol.

Setup screen asking you about data collection and telemetry settings.

so just like some current Linux GUIs and installs that also ask this. Same with MacOS

A (skippable) screen asking you to "customize your experience."

just press skip like any other OS that asks.

A prompt to pair your phone with your PC.

also skipable, and isnt even asked on a local account setup.

IDK man win11 is pretty simple to "debloat" and most of the shit in this article that they complain about is common on multiple Linux, Apple, android, etc. setup/install processes.

Win11 is dogshit for a variety of reasons, like the shitty new start menu formatting/lay out. The god awful menu nesting. The laggy audio panel. The list goes on.

If we're gonna be nitpicking an OS. Atleast nitpick shit that actually impacts operation and isnt also common on many OS'
- Meh, imo windows just feels significantly worse. I setup a Linux desktop and there’s literally just a pop up that gives me a bunch of links which I can just close on first boot. When I was setting up a windows laptop last month it kept hammering me with that fullscreen “HELLO” thing that can’t be dismissed quickly. This is especially annoying given the number of times a fresh windows install needs to be rebooted while installing new software and drivers. Then there’s the bing/edge spam, and the ads in the start bar, and the in OS prompts to sign up for one drive and office…it feels like using an ad supported kindle except it isn’t any cheaper.
  
  Yep i agree. That is why i prefer using Linux distros as my general use OSs.
  
  Was just mainly pointing out the articles fallacies in their reasoning from the section i specifically quoted.
- This is not true. Some Linux guis and installs also ask the 15 questions Microsoft asks about data collection? What Linux is that?
  
  There is a world of difference here... You can't have used Linux nearly at all.
  
  They ask about both diagnostic and telemetry options. Ubuntu 22.04. Default GUI prompts this during account fist login. Rocky 8 with default GUI asks this on initial user account login. Those are just the two i used over this past weekend.
  
  At no point did i say it was the 20 questions that windows tosses at you. I purley stated it still happens.
  
  So you can suck my dick with your shitty attitude trying to discredit me and my statement by misinterpretation and spinning what i said into your own dog shit interpretation.
  
  You seem salty
  
  He says in a thread full of people complaining about the most popular OS available.
  
  Well of course. Some bozo said i lied, then miss-quoted me, then tried to discredit me based off their own made up bullshit.
  
  Sorry for standing up for myself i guess haha?
- I wonder if there are any Linux distros that include ads built into their core apps and menus. Windows does. But hey, we can disable them with some obscure combination of powershell commands and registry edits... temporarily. Should we really have to put up with that kind of crapware in software that we've paid for?
  
  You're kidding yourself if you think Windows hasn't gotten worse in this regard. And Microsoft is carefully probing exactly how much their users will tolerate - because more ads mean more money. Annoying users is only an issue if the users actually leave. So this gentle gradual slide of enshitification is very deliberate and calibrated. People are pushed to the very edge of what they'll tolerate. If you continue to tolerate it, you'll likely be pushed a little bit further soon enough.
  
  I agree its a load of garbage. But that wasn't the point of my statement vs. the directly quoted protion of the article i was referencing and reaponding to. The article list those issues as defaco issues, which they are solveable as i stated and was pointing out. Which occur in other OSs. Not to the extent of the garbage of windows 11.
  
  Nothing i stated is untrue. You took the meaning and spun the context of my statement and spun it into me defending microsoft and windows11. Which i never did once.
  
  I didn't intend to misrepresent what you were saying. I really did take your post as defending Microsoft by minimising the faults.
  
  The list of issues was never meant to be an exhaustive list. They were just examples. You talked about how those examples can be worked around, and I took that to mean you didn't acknowledge the core problem - so I gave a different example and tried to express the point that although work-arounds might exist, we just shouldn't have to deal with that.
  
  In any case, maybe we misunderstood each other. No big deal. Lets just leave it as that.
- It's actually harder to fully debloat than you might think. The truth is that stuff is there, it's just hiding where you don't go. Windows also reinstalls a lot of things during updates, including games and apps that you may not use.
  
  I guess the question is, if it's not actively bothering you, is it really a problem?
  
  Depends on user competencies with computers. It really isn't difficult to full remove. Its even easier to disable like you mentioned, and for most common users, out of site out of mind is a fine option.
  
  Now i do think having to do so is dogshit and should not have to be the case. I'm just saying what i specifically quoted from the article, are not fully true.
- Creating a local account on a clean install of Windows 11 currently requires disconnecting ethernet during setup, a secret keyboard shortcut to open a command prompt, and entering a special command. I'll be surprised if this workaround doesn't go away in the near future, too.
  
  Yep exactly what i stated, you can create local accounts. It's dumb you have to do the work around, i agree with that.
- The audio panel is definitely an issue, but Ear Trumpet solves it. I know relying on a third party solution for a system function isn't ideal, but Ear Trumpet is too good.
  
  Idk, I like the new start menu, especially once they added folders to it. I rarely need to see everything in my start menu and having my most used stuff right up front is nice. The only thing I wish is that I could completely get rid of recently used files on the bottom half.
  
  If the menu nesting is referring to what you get when you right-click something, then yes. That can die in a fire. I don't know who thought that was a good idea, and it's wild because many people thought it was. Something like that doesn't make it to production before passing teams of people.

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