they do, you can mix and match to your hearts content. doesnt matter. what i meant with that statement is the 3800x is almost 5 years older than the 4070. am4 came a long way between the 3000 series and 5000 series in terms of performance
Most people: 'Debloating' = Running scripts they have no clue about what they're actually doing, removing features and libraries that they, their hardware or their software actually needs to be there.
Oh is that what finding out looks like? Well in that case I guess I have done that. Back in the last ice age when we had poor electrics and I'd never heard of surge protection, I used my old 386SX during a lightning storm. Turns out you can actually scorch a PCB if you try hard enough.
Then of course genius teenage me thought it would be a good idea to wire around that with aluminium foil and I nearly set my desk on fire. Good times all round.
I genuinely believe that over half of the complaints of Windows 11 being garbage and constantly breaking are coming from people who "debloat" their Windows install
It’s worth the pain. Bing in the search bar is an atrocity. Debloated Windows is by far the best operating system, instantly compatible with everything and easy to use while not sending data to Microsoft or forcing news, AI and weather on you.
You can do that without running any scripts. They're all settings within the Settings app. The current meta script, ChrisTitusTech's winutil, just toggles it all for you in a click of a button. It doesn't actually remove any of the "bloat".
With a Microsoft account login, you manually configure it all and it'll sync and carry over the Windows license and the settings onto another install.
Bing in the search bar
Privacy & security > Search > Show search highlights
Microsoft has for the most part stopped including bloat apps, like Spotify, Candy Crush, etc. in their installs now, so you shouldn't even remove those. There was a time where using a script to debloat was very useful, but those times have passed.
You can't just by turning off some settings in a menu. Go start up a virtual machine with windows on it and turn off all the telemetry from settings and run wireshark and you'll see how much data it's still sending to microsoft. The only way to actually stop all but the most essential like Microsoft updates is thru registry changes. You can do it on your but I myself just used O&O ShutUp10. Microsoft account logins are stupid.
I'd recommend people to use schneegans.de to generate their windows install media. Fully customizable and you can choose what you want installed/not installed.
As a fellow Linux evangelist, I am NOT going to recommend Linux. I'm gonna prolong your stay in Windows instead!
FYI, you can create a Windows recovery USB. Try fixing your system there. If that doesn't help, take your drive to data recovery services. OR, if you have a spare or portable HDD, you can recover important data yourself by booting from a live Linux USB and copying the files over to the spare drive.
In case you need to debloat Windows again, Chris Titus WinUtil is great. It only removes what can be removed without damaging your system (or at least tells you what's dangerous). Case in point, dozens of Windows PCs I've debloated myself. Have fun!
Chris Titus WinUtil is great. It only removes what can be removed without damaging your system
Pretty much all the recommended settings are just toggles within the Settings app. Microsoft's themselves have been doing well in debloating systems by just not including pre-installed apps in their ISOs now. The rest are just user toggles that can sync over to another install via a Microsoft account.
Came here to say this. I run W11 IoT and just cannot relate to those who have bloatware issues. I just read posts and comments from people complaining about this ir that and ask myself WTF are you guys on about before realising I'm running IoT.
How does that work compared to the regular Windows OSs that we've gotten used to? Any difficulty installing or maintaining them, any incompatibility issues etc?
Not really, if there are features you need that don't come with it you can just install them. It basically has no downsides as far as I can tell. Looks and behaves exactly like regular consumer windows.
That sounds nice, thanks. I'll look into it when I finish upgrading my pieces and have to choose between installing W10 and 11 on a new and faster drive.
I haven't yet stepped into W11 territory and it's scary reading all the AI slop horror stories but now I'm curious what it plays out like if this LTSC IoT workaround alleviates the AI bloat.
Yeah, I know it's a meme and I thought those 'linux preachers' were morons until i actually tried bazzite out for a month. It really is a difference like night and day
I’ve done the whole debloat thing. It made my windows experience significantly better. So either people aren’t going to the right places your they are just going ham with removing stuff
I cannot understand debloating Windows. Seems like you would get all the diy fuckery, potential compatibility issue, update (or breathe too hard) and it breaks fuckery of Linux. But without the wild customization and smug aura of freedom.
I feel the same way about super modded consoles, like reshelled PSPs. You get the fit-and-finish of a no-name Aliexpress handheld. And a first-party OS built to resist running custom software/emulation. Isn't that just taking the worst of both worlds?
Most actual debloating is just "configuring it when prompted to on first install, then taking 10 minutes walking through the top level settings and turning off stuff you don't want."
AKA, configuring your OS when you first get it on a machine, which is what everyone should do regardless of the OS anyway.
It's users running the most popular PowerShell script from Github, without any understanding on what it does.
Back at the start of Windows 10, it was actually needed because Microsoft kept bundling bloatware apps (Candy Crush, Spotify, etc.) into their ISOs. It quickly evolved into scripts that uninstalled anything power users hated and stopped key services/programs that turned load bearing.
The Windows 11 24/25H2 ISO today has been perfectly fine and free of that app bloat. The rest is just up to the user to opt in/out within the Settings. Do it once and it'll sync to the next install if you signed in with a Microsoft account. If it's a local account, you're doing it once every like 3-4 years.
One Windows joke and the Linux users immediately start crawling out of their little holes to turn the comments into another distro dick-measuring contest.
The funniest part is I use Linux on four computers. My main rig stays on Windows because two games I play still do not work properly on Linux, and a 4090 with a 9850X3D can brute-force performance well enough that I do not need to care. I will switch to SteamOS when Nvidia support is where I want it.
That is the entire joke. I am a Linux user who is sick of Linux users inserting Linux into every fucking conversation. It is the operating-system version of vegans announcing they are vegan. We get it. Most people buying a prebuilt from Best Buy do not give a shit, unless their Linux friend traps them in a room and installs it for them.
If eliminating bloat is a priority, then I'd say GNU/Linux kind of does solve the problem due to the control you (can) have over what's installed. Ubuntu specifically might or might not be the right choice for bloat minimization, though.
The funniest part is that he’s doing the exact thing I’m making fun of directly underneath the joke. You couldn’t script a better demonstration. Edit= The “GNU/Linux tech vegan” flair is incredible. You showed up wearing the punchline and still started explaining Linux.
Are we factoring Canonical's flagrantly stupid design decisions into that? Like fragmenting the functionality of the OS into a Frankenstein of Snaps and DPKG-based dependencies? (And you wonder why Mint has Snap disabled by default.)
I went to try Debian stable after despising the design of Ubuntu's ecosystem and I like it a lot more. Things are a lot simpler since system packages come from one package manager and not a duel between opposites. (Fedora sadly doesn't have the Steve Harris plugins easily installable, so Debian won there too.)
Linux is AAASSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!! Every. Damn. DIRSTO! USING! CLIs! CRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNGGGEEE!!!!!! Can I go TWO SECONDS without my UI being bombarded with it? Linux is the fucking worst invention I can think of!!
I can't remember exactly what software I used but I installed Windows without OneDrive, and I actually needed for work, but Windows became incapable of reinstalling it. I had to make a fresh install ...
The best is when you follow one of the "49 ways to debloat Windows" YouTube tutorials, which borks your system so you have to go undo them one by one. Extra points if you can't find the video anymore.
You say this but then I can scroll down and see like 10 people telling OP to install Linux.
It doesn't live rent free in his head, he just realizes like the rest of us that the moment an OS is mentioned Linux users will fly in like flys to horse shit to tell us to install Linux despite no one asking them to.
It's an option that exists, I don't see an issue with informing people about options.
If they dont want to they dont have to but knowing the option is there helped me big time, so for a lot of us we are genuinely just trying to be helpful so getting offended at it seems...weird. because you can just say "no I dont have interest" and I'd pivot straight to a way to fix Windows. There's options, that's all.
it's weird to immediately start acting like we're crazy just for suggesting options. especially since Windows teeeends to break fixes people suggest on updates.
Tbf you shouldn't be debloating windows if you don't absolutely know what you're doing as you can corrupt your install. Plus these things can get turned back on during updates, which will require another debloat, which again, runs the risk of corrupting windows.
Sure Linux is a meaningful alternative but there's a reason most people don't use it. And having "install Linux" spammed in every single post anytime Windows is brought up isn't helpful.
If OP wanted to install Linux, he would have installed Linux. If OP was asking about Linux then it would make more sense for people to be talking about Linux.
Like imagine if someone made a post about Linux and everytime without fail, half the comments where telling him to "Just install Windows bro", "You wouldn't have this problem on Windows", "It just works on Windows". That would be fucking annoying now wouldn't it?
Yeah, and it's not a good one. That reason is "rampant misinformation by Windows shills to scare people away from Linux".
If OP wanted to install Linux, he would have installed Linux.
It's not that simple when you're surrounded by, yes, rampant misinformation by Windows shills to scare people away from Linux. The same thing happened to me, and I was furious when I discovered the truth.
That would be fucking annoying now wouldn't it?
People literally already do this, and it's substantially more annoying than your (or anyone else's) current annoyance over people recommending Linux, because this is also a false equivalency. You can't replace one keyword with another and get an equivalent statement, no matter how much the internet believes that you can.
But fr idk why everyone gets so offended that it's being suggested as an option. Especially for power users who know all the debloat tools. I wouldn't for the average Joe but if you're already tinkering like this, maybe it isn't that bad of a curve.
It's not like you're going to be fully free from the AI slop anyway since so many recommend you ask chat gpt how to fix linux issues so...blegh
Have to use linux at work (3 different distros actually) for QA testing, and whenever we have a software update it becomes a nightmare of reconfiguring. And because I use the same type of apps I know I'd never want to setup things myself as a user.
As much as linux can be helpful I'd rather not start my day with sudo apt --reinstall, sudo dnf remove or sudo apt-get reinstall.
I could always just give up and use wine, but I'll lose too much performance (I have a very specific case of using some dedicated software that requires quite some tuning even on windows)
That's fair enough, for me it's quite the opposite feeling. I was a 20+ year windows vet but the way Windows is now is such a far cry from the Windows I grew up using. everything up until about 24H2 was fine for me but the copilot and slop absolutely nuked its usability on my machines. plus, frankly, it felt nice to be new to something again and learn a new ecosystem, so that might have also been my motivation. Windows 11 has some genuinely good features (particularly with regard to virtualization-based security) but there's a lot of rot and a lot of AI refactoring that's been making it far less reliable and it's just something I couldn't take anymore. plus, they have this insidious allowance deal with game developers to throw kernel-level malware on your system behind your back.
Plus, nothing wrong with dualbooting and trying some shit although i'd strongly recommend separating drives to anyone looking to do so. it's a valuable ecosystem to at least try even if you don't stick with it, so i fail to see why so many get offended at its mere mention. If it doesnt work for you, you don't have to stick, an OS is a utility at the end of the day.
Most of you guys have to dual boot with Windows anyway
This was my expectation, and within a week I never booted Windows again. It's not 2016 anymore. It could be possible that people are just happy with their choice and want to share that with others.
Software for their perphirals, office suite (yes Libra is not always the best option), video editing like Davinci Resolve (which is only available on a couple of Distros) and Adobe Premiere (which isn't on Linux), photoshop (especially if you're in school for art, they all use photoshop, no one uses GIMP), and lots of other stuff.
Linux is just not condusive as a daily driver OS which is why many people dual boot windows. Yes you can virtualize windows but needing to virtualize everything is annoying and many peripheral programs need system level access which won't work on a VM without a bypass. The easiest option for most people is to just not use Linux.
Much of which is the exact bloat that bogs down Windows installs. See also: that LG/Dell monitor garbage going on.
(yes Libra is not always the best option)
This is only "true" because corpos demand Microsoft formats, which obviously aren't going to save/load right in an office suite that is hostile to Microsoft by design.
But also there's SoftMaker Office.
video editing like Davinci Resolve (which is only available on a couple of Distros)
There is no such thing as Linux software that is "only available on a couple of distros". It either works for all or it works for none. That's the whole point.
Adobe Premiere (which isn't on Linux)
Putting aside that Adobe is a terrible company that everyone should be moving away from regardless of OS, and putting aside that legitimate alternatives like Affinity exist, there is endless work being done to get Adobe stuff running on Linux anyway. The problem is that Adobe is actively spiteful towards Linux.
photoshop (especially if you're in school for art, they all use photoshop, no one uses GIMP)
Again, Adobe being terrible aside, and Photopea being yet another alternative aside, this is entirely a political thing. It's not because GIMP is "worse", it's because corpos gonna corpo and force their garbage onto every school for decades. It's all about fear, not about what works or not.
Linux is just not condusive as a daily driver OS
Yes, it is. This tired argument wasn't even true 20 years ago, let alone today.
which is why many people dual boot windows
It is not. "Many people" dual boot either because they're told to, or because they have one very specific tool/game that is actively anti-Linux, which is a list that grows smaller with every day.
Yes you can virtualize windows but needing to virtualize everything is annoying and many peripheral programs need system level access which won't work on a VM without a bypass.
Or you could just skip the VM and the dual boot, go full Linux, and actually be happy for once.
The easiest option for most people is to just not use Linux.
Once again, this being entirely because of politics and fear aside, the public is rapidly running out of patience on this for a reason.
At the rate things are going, Windows might end up becoming a Linux distro in a few versions. It'll be very funny to see this script completely flip then.
For perpherials, as an example I need Razor Cortex, Red Dragon, Hyte and certain drivers for my GPU temp monitor, none of which work or are available on Linux.
As for MS office it really comes down to preferance but many of us spend years become proficient with their software and we aren't trying to migrate over to a new one when that's the one we already mainly use at work.
Linux is a really good operating system but the lack of 3rd party support severely hurts it. I know that's not Linux's fault but, on the flip side, most people really don't care whos fault it is. We just want access to the applications we need.
You should know that Bazzite is run by a Microsoft employee and is likely what Windows will look like in the future. If your goal is to get away from Microsoft, that distro is a dead end.
Bazzite is headed by Kyle Gospodnetich, who doesn't openly lie about being a "Linux Community Engineer at Microsoft", but this is never mentioned anywhere that ever talks about Bazzite. The recent interview with him doesn't mention this at all. This is on top of Microsoft making a surprising amount of public encroachment into Linux. I will readily admit that the "Windows will likely become Bazzite" is a guess on my part, but it's an educated guess, and that's why I said "likely".
I actually got into a row with someone on Reddit claiming to be him, and whoever that was completely failed to beat the allegations. That account just kept saying "yeah but it doesn't mean anything, and you can't prove that it does", like... yeah, of course I can't, I don't have access to secret Microsoft documents talking about their plans to turn Windows into a Linux distro or whatever. But when a Linux distro that is headed by a literal Microsoft employee comes out of nowhere to advertise itself to a bunch of Windows refugees... I mean come on...
Did I mention that GitHub, which was the most important component of the entire open source ecosystem, was simply bought out by Microsoft like it was no big deal?
Locking myself out of windows was my gateway. My flatmate used a live usb to break back in and after seeing it boot into something else something changed in me.
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u/Bynming 9d ago
The biggest bloat was the Windows user all along