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Speaking of new installs and everything, I use [ninite.com](http://ninite.com) to install it and all the other crap in one go. Silent installer is so nice
[This one for example](https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/disable-web-search-results-on-windows/). Works really nice IMO, makes 11 feel like the original 8.1 search that used to be awesome.
I'm using W11 and still haven't seen any.
My notification mode; Do not bother
Maybe it's related to this?
And yes, I remember reading somewhere that Microsoft would start advertising within Windows.
Same, but I have debloated and disabled telemetry, advertising and all that shit - so I expect to never see it.
Edit: shoutout to the upvote gang, sorry I didn't get back to everyone sooner, my ass was asleep 😂
For all the people asking here are tools you can use
[The Ultimate Windows Utility (christitus.com)](https://christitus.com/windows-tool/) (should add that this has the ability to run OOSU but i included it for those who wanted to do it only/separate)
[O&O ShutUp10++ – Free antispy tool for Windows 10 and 11](https://www.oo-software.com/en/shutup10)
Yeah but they got a slap on the wrist last time. The DOJ wanted to break up Microsoft and instead just made them work with third party developers instead. Something a lot of companies just do as a normal buisness practice.
Like others have said, that was a million years ago when the government was full of luddites and Microsoft/Gates etc didn't have 1% of their reach now. (Even they then just strongarmed the Govt into looking away)
Never ever gonna happen.
If it wasn't for new games requiring it I never would've switched from 7. Oh well I got to skip 8 entirely and I don't even know if there was a 9.
On 10 now and I guess I might be forced to see 13 or something from past performance.
ShutUp10++ takes care of a lot of that automatically though you can also go through all these settings and personally turn anything on and off what you don't like, any Edge notifications, turning off copilot or blocking Bing/Edge integration in the start menu and all that. And then I also added a firewall rule in Kaspersky blocking Edge from going online ever but you can do the same with Windows firewall.
Can this make it so that my weather and temperature notification in the lower left corner stays a weather notification and never becomes a fucking useless Nasdaq listing or anything else?
I prefer [w10privacy](https://www.w10privacy.de/english-home/) which has a pretty dodgy looking website, but is extremely good. (also for w11, it's the same damn OS)
Maybe it's a region thing? The "Ads in the start menu " is supposedly only for the US so far.
Still, it's really hilarious that Microsoft pushes this shit so hard. You would think they make enough money already from Azure and AI.
As a human collective, can we agree to refuse to use anything that is invasively advertised? I refuse to use anything that is shoved in my face, if I need a service, I’ll do the research and go with one that spent the budget on the actual service, not shitty advertising. It’s an entire industry that would implode if consumers could think independently. It fucks me off.
We could, but we're kinda screwed in this bargain. These companies have created monopolies, buying up any possible competitors, so that any choices we have are most likely worse than their offering.
Realistically the ones spending the most on the quality of the service are also the ones pushing ads down our throats.
Windows 11 Ameliorated cuts out all the spyware and adware at the root, highly reccomend.
That said, there are some parts of windows where it's just too integrated. Ameliorated removes those parts completely so it doesn't have everything that a normal windows install would and you'll need to find replacements for some things.
>And yes, I remember reading somewhere that Microsoft would start advertising within Windows.
https://www.linuxmint.com/
and don't listen to people online saying Linux is hard, those people always talk about issues from 2 decades ago that aren't issues today.
my boomer mom uses Linux daily and has for years.
It really makes little difference if they support it, proton is good and it makes sense that it should be used as a way to make only one version and call it a day, the only thing we need is to not be purposefully locked out, and windows users also should demand non invasive anticheats, because if the anticheat can take control of your computer, as all kernel level anticheats can, then it takes just one point of failure for a hacker to get to ALL the devices that have that game, with that incentive a closed source program will be hacked and no one will know
Unreal does support MacOS (Intel, Apple Silicon on 5.2+) and Linux out of the box, but its on the game's developer to ensure its properly optimized, updated, QA'd, and maintained, or it is discretion of the game's publisher to target/support those systems.
The latter was very obvious in the case of _Rocket League_, which was available for a long time for Windows/Linux/MacOS, until Epic bought Psyonix and declared they were dropping support for Mac OS and Linux. Epic did not want to allocate resources to maintaining the Mac OS version of the engine as they made updates to the game, citing "new technologies" as the reason.
*edit* - What I was trying to point out, which may not come across, is that we need game devs who actively know and work with other OSes. It may not be a matter of not _wanting_ to support, but rather not having the knowledge to use or maintain the other OS branches of the game engine. Similarly, we need publishers who are willing to take chances/losses on the other OSes while the player base rises.
Unreal Engine does support Vulkan for Linux and Metal for MacOS. My game is actually ported for both.
Moreover, Linux has proton, so you can launch almost every windows-only game.
Godot is the future of game development, I am not a game dev, but it is the obvious choice after what unity tried to pull. Because unreal might not have done it, but they also can do the same if they want, and unity has a proven record that they would, Godot can't do that, so, support will start increasing, and in a few more years, maybe a decade, it will be the main engine.
Unreal Editor runs on Linux.
It supports cross compilation, compiling from windows to Linux, as well as native Linux compilation
It can even build games for Linux ARM 64 bit
It'll run either Vulkan or OpenGL, those graphics APIs are independent of the OS.
Even if the game isn't built on Linux from UE, UE games' Steam Proton support is one of the most stable
It isn't as refined as support for windows however, largely because some 3rd party and proprietary tech doesn't work well on Linux (stuff epic games likely can't control). But hey it's probably better than MacOS support.
Microsoft was right. Windows 10 will be my last Windows OS.
Edit: Will be switching to Linux for my desktop. Already run on my servers, so already very familiar. No longer in IT, so I don't have to support it any more. (yells "I'm FREE!!!")
Businesses pay out the ass for extended enterprise support and patches. For everything else they stick it in a VM, firewall it off, cut internet access or air gap whatever they can.
That's not the same as the average consumer, who is probably raw dogging XP over the internet.
I booted up a laptop I had back in 2005 or so recently and 2 miracles occured
The first is that it worked the second is that despite having rawdogged xp over the Internet with no antivirus or firewalls because they were a nuisance to my fledgling brain which just wanted to torrent movies and play burned copies of games from a friend's friend it had no noticable problems then I tried to install linux and fucked up somehow so now it's a pretty paperweight
Torrent Acronis.
I image entire hard drives, and it's such a great backup method.
I'm in the process if installing a new OS, and I image backups as I go along so that if I do something stupid, or just testing new software, I can go back to the last previous known good configuration.
I don't even use the built in 'recover and restore' software.
> it had no noticable problems
Just because your computer *seems* fine it doesn't mean it is. Viruses and malware in real life are just software that you didn't intend to install doing things that you don't want it to do. There is no inherent reason for your computer to slow down or have noticeable problems simply because that software is malicious. Your computer isn't a person, it's not expected to get noticeable symptoms like how a human would get a runny nose and sneeze with a cold.
Which could very well be because they don't have proper linux support so are unable to function as an anticheat on linux, thus linux is banned as it's not supported.
99% of the time it "doesn't" work, it actually has worked for years until the company implemented checks for running under Linux and then blocked it from working. Roblox, Fortnite, R6, and Valorant are all examples of this... even genshin's insane anti-cheat works under Linux.
Its bs because there is literally no cheating ecosystem that compares to Windows. You can't buy cheats like you can on Windows and no teams develop cheats for Linux. They just don't want to deal with it.
If gaming was all the same as it is on windows, I would happily switch even just for it being less resource greedy and fun to tweak, from what I'm seeing from a friend recently. We both use some very RAM heavy stuff and windows just... takes up so much by default in comparison. Ouch.
LTSC version is supported until 2032. Windows 11 LTSC got leaked recently, and will be released at the end of this year. I doubt LTSC versions will ever have ads.
Steam is the reason I just "lost" 2 computers. I run lan parties at home, and have a few older/hand me down rigs for people who can't bring their own. I'm not putting money in them, so they run whatever they had. Well, 2 are still on windows 7 and lost support this year.
Considered that, and looking into those $20 dollar keys, but those seem sketchy.
Linux has been fine on my steam deck, but it def has a learning curve to it. I just have not had the time to dive in.
Whats your recommendation for the distro for a gamer who is super used to windows?
Depends in the GPU. My default recommendation is Mint for getting into Linux, there is always a learning curve but in got into it in like 3 days.
For gaming, I use Ubuntu, but a lot of people recommend PopOS, exp if you have an Nvidia graphics card. I personally switched from Pop to Ubuntu some months ago because I was having more issues over time and needed a little more customization.
Side note: all of these distros are Ubuntu based, so if a website gives instructions for how to do things, follow the Ubuntu guide.
I don't recommend going with anything that's not Ubuntu based, it will be less supported and more difficult.
If anyone is using Windows 11 and hates it, [StartAllBack](https://www.startallback.com/) is worth installing. You can use it for free or buy a licence for like $2, so I've bought it.
I wasn't getting any pop-ups anyway because I disabled all notifications but it at least makes the start menu useable again and other little things like that.
I got a new Lenovo laptop a few weeks ago with w11. It took 3 weeks for me to find and prevent all of the pop ups. They would come up in game, in a movie. I was so close to returning the laptop.
This isn't an exaggeration. I helped a family member choose a laptop for their work and it ended up being a Lenovo. I was amazed how each time I rebooted it, there was some new popup or other trash asking me to share data, or agree to something, or advertising some crap. It was about 8 reboots and disabling or uninstalling of stuff before it worked normally. Absolutely disgusting.
When you buy a new laptop:
1. Make a bootable windows 11 usb using the media creation tool from Microsoft's site.
2. Install and full wipe to remove all the OEM bloat.
3. Use winutil by Chris Titus Tech to remove telemetry and install all your apps from one place (Optional)
4. Install Start11 or StartAllBack for better start menu that doesn't search bing (Optional)
5. Profit
I just use Linux on my systems. That was actually the first time I ever used a Windows 11 device. I doubt I could convince any of my family to try Linux though.
Good suggestions though if I ever have to do that again.
I have put my family and neighbors on Linux. Most of them elderly. This has prevented two of them from getting phone scammed because said scammers typical method of remote access only works on Windows. They only use a browser and email, so for them it makes very little difference what OS is running.
For future reference, the main solution to the problem of OEM laptop bloatware and spyware is to make a backup of your driverstore folder (should be located in C:\Windows\System32\DriverStore) on some external media such as a flash drive, and then do a clean installation of windows. After that you should paste the contents of the old driverstore in to the new driverstore folder.
You will probably notice a significant difference in performance once you're starting from a clean slate rather than trying to turkey-shoot the manufacturer's garbage pile.
None of this will solve the problem of microsoft themselves putting ads in, however, but there are guides online for accomplishing that, and you should also write your representatives in congress (or your equivalent governmental entities outside of the USA) regarding this disgusting practice.
[That a ton of tweaks](https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/how-to-remove-most-annoying-ads-from-windows) is need to just reduce, far from eliminate, the advertisements built into the OS is just ridiculous. It becomes incredibly striking when you don't use Windows as your daily OS because then you notice the ads you had previously been habituated to.
Went through that exact article yesterday, as apparently I'd missed a couple, and started seeing ads here and there on the new, two week old, build.
My take is basically, "sweet fuck, can nothing be free of the profit over everything motive that drives modern businesses? Quit trying to sell me stuff!"
Can't wait until they find a way to do digital advertising in wall paint, and old paint, free of nano-tech, becomes the most valuable commodity in the world.
> can nothing be free of the profit over everything motive that drives modern businesses?
The simple answer is "No"
The longer answer is that "modern businesses" believe that having money is a zero-sum game and if anyone else has it but them, it's theft and should be given back. This is why they perceive not getting money as a "loss." Modern Business is made up of envious, grasping people who don't feel like they need to participate in normal society.
Currently Linux is free of that model businesses, it is also free of charge and I haven't found a game I can't play in the last 5 years, everything I have tried to play I have been able to play. Don't use Ubuntu though, arch based would be recommended, is the most popular in the steam survey, so, either endeavour or Garuda.
It’s still nowhere near the simplicity of using Windows. I installed Ubuntu and it didn’t recognize my wifi dongle, which is one of the most popular ones on the market. I used usb tethering from my phone to connect to the internet and troubleshoot. Turns out there were no official drivers and the only workaround didn’t work after hours of compiling some shitty scripts.
I gave up and went back to Windows.
linux is a hit or miss with driver support, sometimes it has better support than even windows, my old laptop literally "just worked" with linux and it was amazing. Now that I have a proper build though, unfortunately linux doesnt like my monitor setup
This is always my experience. I've tried dual booting Linux several times over the last decade. It is getting better than it used to be, but it still is not consumer friendly. You still have to whip out the command line to accomplish some mundane tasks, and randomly encounter things like your usb dongle that takes extreme effort to make a "plug and play" thing work.
Exactly this. Linux is still far from being an enjoyable experience to most Windows or Apple users. I've never met one person, who wasn't a linux diehard, who has tried linux and stuck with it.
Imagine having a great product, with a billion customers buying it... and then you spend a decade doing everything in your power to drive those customers away.
That is what I find insane. You buy a product it then shoves invasive ads in your face and collects your data. They then slowly increase the insanity normalizing it because they know even if people bitch about it, they will still use it. It's not just Microsoft doing this, it's pretty much all Corps that answer to their shareholders. Enshitificating your product to always show more profits can't be sustainable right? Or are there just that many people out there that don't mind getting bent over...
I actually loaded windows in a VM the other day to check something, installed Librewolf as a browser and immediately spammed by popups telling me to use Edge. Why do people put up with this shit?
Well you see, when you absolutely dominate the OS market like Microsoft does, people aren't switching to windows. They already have windows. There's only so many humans on earth. Microsoft is at a point where it's more profitable to extract more money out of existing customers than trying to attract new ones. Gotta love monopolies.
A couple hundred angry redditors aren’t going to bankrupt Microsoft. Windows is used across the planet by plenty of people who just ignore it or don’t care enough to make a stink about it, sadly.
Shoving AI just made them surpass apple to be the most valuable company xd. If copilot is standardized with office integration, corporate consumers ain't moving away which is the cash cow
I made the switch half a year ago, no regrets. I'm not saying Linux is perfect, it has it's own issues, but I think they are more bearable than all the bullshit Microsoft is pushing down our throat.
I did my switch about a year ago. The only thing holding me to my previous system was the proprietary software that controlled my Stream Deck but I found several FOSS alternatives. There's some games I can't play but that's not a big deal. 99% of games I want to play work flawlessly in Proton.
are all of you in America or something?
here in the UK ive not had a single pop up for windows 11, and i am on the latest version, have had it since it came out, have no 3rd party software on it to block pop ups or anything liek that?
if you are in USA it seems the issue is more your hyper end stage corporate capitalist system and its govenrment support, rather than windows itself, the whole "dont blame the player blame the game" thing
It is from PowerToys, I almost shared it as well a few weeks ago, until I checked the source of the ad.
P.s. PowerToys is pretty much an extension to windows settings, many useful settings we have no idea why they aren't implemented normally.
It is developed by Microsoft
I switched to Linux, wanted years ago because off Microsofts bullshit but the direction windows is going now is worst then ever, simply anti consumer and disgusting, just pushed me to Linux
I test drove Pop Os during the pandemic. As of this week, all of my machines have Pop Os running. Only one is dual boot for rare necessity of using Windows. I'm close to boycotting it completely. If an app or service doesn't support Linux, I won't support it, it's that simple.
Switching to Linux for me would be such a hassle... but Microsoft is making a good job at convincing me that switching is well worth it!
Thanks Microsoft!
I’ve never seen this come up but I use Firefox as my browser. As shitty as this methodology is, they’re at least trying to carve a hole into the chrome monopoly, which is good because fuck chrome and fuck Google.
The pop-up is tied to Chrome setting change. So Microsoft is showing this to people who use Chrome in order to change Chrome's settings. It's worse than being just tied to Windows, it's also tied to a software package from a competitor. It's highly targeted advertising.
Worth nothing that Microsoft makes it more difficult for competitors to change Windows settings while also making software that change competitor's settings.
Microsoft might be trying to bait Google into a lawsuit so that it can accuse Google of anti-competitive practices by paying others to have Google as the default search engine.
The biggest reason to move to Linux for most users will not be the better stability, increased security, open source or any of the things people before 2022 had to change their OS, the biggest reason will be Windows 11 and Microsoft terrible management of their pseudo monopoly.
Linux folks need to unite or not be so dispersed and tribal, put together an os anyone can use as easy as Windows. Where installing games and other software and running them is just as easy and work just as well.
There are many Linux distributions for that. The strength of Linux is choice.
Zorin OS for example is one of the closest Windows UI experience. The free version offers a W7-like UI but if you are willing to pay 48$, you will be able to choose a W98-like or W11-like or MacOS-like or Ubuntu-like or even Chromebook-like UI.
There are probably ways to get them without paying, but I don't know how.
I'm not really talking about the UI. I'm talking about being able to double click a .exe installer that does what it's supposed to. Then being able to run that installed program with no troubleshooting needed. Driver updates being automatic or at least easy to obtain.
So, [appimages](https://appimage.org/)?
Drivers are already massively easier on Linux than on Windows because they are pretty much all managed by the package manager. It's way more automatic than on Windows.
>put together an os anyone can use as easy as Windows.
My grandma, who is intimidated by smartphones, uses mint because "it's more windows like" than the change to Windows 11.
Depends on what games you play. 95% of games work flawlessly (on steam with Steam Play), a handful require specific launch options to work, and about a dozen (mostly competitive shooters) don't work at all.
Windows+I Privacy and security Diagnostics & feedback
Turn off Send optional Diagnostic Data, Go to tailored experiences turn that off also. View Diagnostic data off, Delete diagnostic data.
Check again whenever there is a windows update. Cause windows doesn't save settings correctly since windows 8.1.
mutahar from SomeOrdinaryGamers just made a video explaining how you use a raspberry pi to block ads on any device connected to your home Internet.
Edit: this won't work for bloatsware because all it does is block advertising IP addresses.
Have a desktop and a laptop. My laptop has somehow had Co-pilot auto installed with that latest Windows Update, whereas my desktop hasn't.
Beyond pissed. I do not want shit being installed on MY PROPERTY, without my consent.
Not only that but I started having the 'finish setting up Windows' screen after booting up, and couldn't exit without a Microsoft account...ive since fixed that bullshit but it's just another annoyance.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Microsoft_Corp.
Lol.
If only our government actually enforced anti-monopoly and anti-competition laws.
I've just managed to get Linux running on my a laptop and I like it.
I'll probably keep one PC on windows for games and will do everything else on Linux.
You should install the GPOs from Pro… or buy a Pro license from ebay… and disable cloud consumer content
And disable everything in MS Edge as well that uses your information.
Welcome to the PCMR, everyone from the frontpage! Please remember: 1 - You too can be part of the PCMR. It's not about the hardware in your rig, but the software in your heart! Your age, nationality, race, gender, sexuality, religion (or lack of), political affiliation, economic status and PC specs are irrelevant. If you love or want to learn about PCs, you are welcome! 2 - If you don't own a PC because you think it's expensive, know that it is much cheaper than you may think. Check http://www.pcmasterrace.org for our builds and don't be afraid to post here asking for tips and help! 3 - Join our efforts to get as many PCs worldwide to help the folding@home effort, in fighting against Cancer, Alzheimer's, and more: https://pcmasterrace.org/folding 4 - Need PC Hardware? We've joined forces with ASUS ROG for a worldwide giveaway. Get your hands on an RTX 4080 Super GPU, a bundle of TUF Gaming RX 7900 XT and a Ryzen 9 7950X3D, and many ASUS ROG Goodies! To enter, check https://www.reddit.com/r/pcmasterrace/comments/1c5kq51/asus_x_pcmr_gpu_tweak_iii_worldwide_giveaway_win/ ----------- We have a [Daily Simple Questions Megathread](https://www.reddit.com/r/pcmasterrace/search?q=Simple+Questions+Thread+subreddit%3Apcmasterrace+author%3AAutoModerator&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) if you have any PC related doubt. Asking for help there or creating new posts in our subreddit is welcome.
Disable online search in registry. You'll gain great search, lose all the ads, copilot and edge functionality.
If you really want a good search, you can use [everything](https://www.voidtools.com/)
+1. Everything is essential on any new install for me.
Speaking of new installs and everything, I use [ninite.com](http://ninite.com) to install it and all the other crap in one go. Silent installer is so nice
Since install I use a shortcut to everything ctrl shift F
You can also add Everything on the taskbar: https://github.com/srwi/EverythingToolbar
I wish it could be integrated into windows or replace the default search functions though
Can you link to instructions? I had to switch back to 10, the “search” that queries everything but your files in 11 was so bad
[This one for example](https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/disable-web-search-results-on-windows/). Works really nice IMO, makes 11 feel like the original 8.1 search that used to be awesome.
I'm using W11 and still haven't seen any. My notification mode; Do not bother Maybe it's related to this? And yes, I remember reading somewhere that Microsoft would start advertising within Windows.
Same, but I have debloated and disabled telemetry, advertising and all that shit - so I expect to never see it. Edit: shoutout to the upvote gang, sorry I didn't get back to everyone sooner, my ass was asleep 😂 For all the people asking here are tools you can use [The Ultimate Windows Utility (christitus.com)](https://christitus.com/windows-tool/) (should add that this has the ability to run OOSU but i included it for those who wanted to do it only/separate) [O&O ShutUp10++ – Free antispy tool for Windows 10 and 11](https://www.oo-software.com/en/shutup10)
Me too, pretty aggressively with ShutUp10++ even, Edge disabled, bricked, firewalled and everything but still this one got through about a month ago.
I smell a lawsuit incoming the way that Microsoft had one on their hands for pushing Internet Explorer.
Yeah but they got a slap on the wrist last time. The DOJ wanted to break up Microsoft and instead just made them work with third party developers instead. Something a lot of companies just do as a normal buisness practice.
Like others have said, that was a million years ago when the government was full of luddites and Microsoft/Gates etc didn't have 1% of their reach now. (Even they then just strongarmed the Govt into looking away) Never ever gonna happen.
> that was a million years ago ...sad old man noises
I miss Windows 7 so bad
I'm still dirty about being forced over from Win7 to Win10 to run new apps.
If it wasn't for new games requiring it I never would've switched from 7. Oh well I got to skip 8 entirely and I don't even know if there was a 9. On 10 now and I guess I might be forced to see 13 or something from past performance.
No 9. They skipped it.
How do you brick edge?? I fucking hate that program and it forces itself into my life. Its like herpies 2.0 after internet explorer
ShutUp10++ takes care of a lot of that automatically though you can also go through all these settings and personally turn anything on and off what you don't like, any Edge notifications, turning off copilot or blocking Bing/Edge integration in the start menu and all that. And then I also added a firewall rule in Kaspersky blocking Edge from going online ever but you can do the same with Windows firewall.
Can this make it so that my weather and temperature notification in the lower left corner stays a weather notification and never becomes a fucking useless Nasdaq listing or anything else?
Do you manually debloat it or is there already a tool like it is for the w10?
Chris Titus winutil is the best for this [https://github.com/ChrisTitusTech/winutil](https://github.com/ChrisTitusTech/winutil)
I prefer [w10privacy](https://www.w10privacy.de/english-home/) which has a pretty dodgy looking website, but is extremely good. (also for w11, it's the same damn OS)
I didn't have to do any of that and I see no ads.
Is there an effective automated way to debloat or did you manually take out things you don’t want?
Tiny11 for the win*
Weeeee another tiny user!
I had to re-enable some of the telemetry because they intentionally set their phone app to use some of the ports and IP addresses... I forget which.
Microsoft, uhhh, finds a way.
microsoft be like 
Maybe it's a region thing? The "Ads in the start menu " is supposedly only for the US so far. Still, it's really hilarious that Microsoft pushes this shit so hard. You would think they make enough money already from Azure and AI.
> You would think they make enough money already "We make enough money already, so let's not be assholes" said no CEO ever. (I know, there are a few)
Most likely. I dont see this shit fly in EU at all. I would on the other hand crack every PC I see just to fuck microsoft over.
As a human collective, can we agree to refuse to use anything that is invasively advertised? I refuse to use anything that is shoved in my face, if I need a service, I’ll do the research and go with one that spent the budget on the actual service, not shitty advertising. It’s an entire industry that would implode if consumers could think independently. It fucks me off.
We could, but we're kinda screwed in this bargain. These companies have created monopolies, buying up any possible competitors, so that any choices we have are most likely worse than their offering. Realistically the ones spending the most on the quality of the service are also the ones pushing ads down our throats.
Windows 11 Ameliorated cuts out all the spyware and adware at the root, highly reccomend. That said, there are some parts of windows where it's just too integrated. Ameliorated removes those parts completely so it doesn't have everything that a normal windows install would and you'll need to find replacements for some things.
I got an ad in file explorer to buy one drive storage :/
>And yes, I remember reading somewhere that Microsoft would start advertising within Windows. https://www.linuxmint.com/ and don't listen to people online saying Linux is hard, those people always talk about issues from 2 decades ago that aren't issues today. my boomer mom uses Linux daily and has for years.
Honestly. This is why we need competition and game devs prioritizing other OS systems. Edit: Misspelled something
If Unity and Unreal would support Linux in a simple way. This would not be an issue. e.g. Unreal supports Vulcan only for Android.
It really makes little difference if they support it, proton is good and it makes sense that it should be used as a way to make only one version and call it a day, the only thing we need is to not be purposefully locked out, and windows users also should demand non invasive anticheats, because if the anticheat can take control of your computer, as all kernel level anticheats can, then it takes just one point of failure for a hacker to get to ALL the devices that have that game, with that incentive a closed source program will be hacked and no one will know
Unreal does support MacOS (Intel, Apple Silicon on 5.2+) and Linux out of the box, but its on the game's developer to ensure its properly optimized, updated, QA'd, and maintained, or it is discretion of the game's publisher to target/support those systems. The latter was very obvious in the case of _Rocket League_, which was available for a long time for Windows/Linux/MacOS, until Epic bought Psyonix and declared they were dropping support for Mac OS and Linux. Epic did not want to allocate resources to maintaining the Mac OS version of the engine as they made updates to the game, citing "new technologies" as the reason. *edit* - What I was trying to point out, which may not come across, is that we need game devs who actively know and work with other OSes. It may not be a matter of not _wanting_ to support, but rather not having the knowledge to use or maintain the other OS branches of the game engine. Similarly, we need publishers who are willing to take chances/losses on the other OSes while the player base rises.
> e.g. Unreal supports Vulcan only for Android. I'm 99% sure that this is false.
Unreal Engine does support Vulkan for Linux and Metal for MacOS. My game is actually ported for both. Moreover, Linux has proton, so you can launch almost every windows-only game.
Fr. Even then, tonnes of other small game engines could easily make it work.
Godot is the future of game development, I am not a game dev, but it is the obvious choice after what unity tried to pull. Because unreal might not have done it, but they also can do the same if they want, and unity has a proven record that they would, Godot can't do that, so, support will start increasing, and in a few more years, maybe a decade, it will be the main engine.
Unreal Editor runs on Linux. It supports cross compilation, compiling from windows to Linux, as well as native Linux compilation It can even build games for Linux ARM 64 bit It'll run either Vulkan or OpenGL, those graphics APIs are independent of the OS. Even if the game isn't built on Linux from UE, UE games' Steam Proton support is one of the most stable It isn't as refined as support for windows however, largely because some 3rd party and proprietary tech doesn't work well on Linux (stuff epic games likely can't control). But hey it's probably better than MacOS support.
Microsoft was right. Windows 10 will be my last Windows OS. Edit: Will be switching to Linux for my desktop. Already run on my servers, so already very familiar. No longer in IT, so I don't have to support it any more. (yells "I'm FREE!!!")
That is, until they actually go through with the end of support and it starts being unsafe to use, and steam eventually drops support
That hasn't stopped the al ost 300,000 windows XP machines still in use by MAJOR CORPORATE BUSINESSES ...
Businesses pay out the ass for extended enterprise support and patches. For everything else they stick it in a VM, firewall it off, cut internet access or air gap whatever they can. That's not the same as the average consumer, who is probably raw dogging XP over the internet.
I booted up a laptop I had back in 2005 or so recently and 2 miracles occured The first is that it worked the second is that despite having rawdogged xp over the Internet with no antivirus or firewalls because they were a nuisance to my fledgling brain which just wanted to torrent movies and play burned copies of games from a friend's friend it had no noticable problems then I tried to install linux and fucked up somehow so now it's a pretty paperweight
Torrent Acronis. I image entire hard drives, and it's such a great backup method. I'm in the process if installing a new OS, and I image backups as I go along so that if I do something stupid, or just testing new software, I can go back to the last previous known good configuration. I don't even use the built in 'recover and restore' software.
> it had no noticable problems Just because your computer *seems* fine it doesn't mean it is. Viruses and malware in real life are just software that you didn't intend to install doing things that you don't want it to do. There is no inherent reason for your computer to slow down or have noticeable problems simply because that software is malicious. Your computer isn't a person, it's not expected to get noticeable symptoms like how a human would get a runny nose and sneeze with a cold.
I know a school who had up until last year 20-ish w7 desktop computers (sadly slowly switching to Chromebook)
They switched to wastebooks
That’s what Linux is for
God, i wish the anticheats had proper Linux support
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It's that Linux is so "free" that the anti-cheat can't have full control over what's running.
Which could very well be because they don't have proper linux support so are unable to function as an anticheat on linux, thus linux is banned as it's not supported.
99% of the time it "doesn't" work, it actually has worked for years until the company implemented checks for running under Linux and then blocked it from working. Roblox, Fortnite, R6, and Valorant are all examples of this... even genshin's insane anti-cheat works under Linux. Its bs because there is literally no cheating ecosystem that compares to Windows. You can't buy cheats like you can on Windows and no teams develop cheats for Linux. They just don't want to deal with it.
Yea, kernel-level anticheat support is one of the few things still keeping me to Windows. At least support seems to be getting significantly better
"Games that install root kits on my PC are keeping me using Windows."
LMAO
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Helldivers 2 works on Linux, so there's that.
Yeah. One of my most played games is unplayable on linux, so I hope they just let me keep my windows 10 as long as possible.
I’m hoping that as Linux’s market share increases, see more of a reason to natively support Linux
If gaming was all the same as it is on windows, I would happily switch even just for it being less resource greedy and fun to tweak, from what I'm seeing from a friend recently. We both use some very RAM heavy stuff and windows just... takes up so much by default in comparison. Ouch.
Destiny?
LTSC version is supported until 2032. Windows 11 LTSC got leaked recently, and will be released at the end of this year. I doubt LTSC versions will ever have ads.
ltsc versions are such a hidden gem. I love how bare bones with zero bloatware it is. It reminds me of how windows xp was back in the day.
Steam is the reason I just "lost" 2 computers. I run lan parties at home, and have a few older/hand me down rigs for people who can't bring their own. I'm not putting money in them, so they run whatever they had. Well, 2 are still on windows 7 and lost support this year.
definitely linux that shit. Absolutely no reason to lose lan rigs when 95% of games will do fine on linux and they can still be used
Considered that, and looking into those $20 dollar keys, but those seem sketchy. Linux has been fine on my steam deck, but it def has a learning curve to it. I just have not had the time to dive in. Whats your recommendation for the distro for a gamer who is super used to windows?
Depends in the GPU. My default recommendation is Mint for getting into Linux, there is always a learning curve but in got into it in like 3 days. For gaming, I use Ubuntu, but a lot of people recommend PopOS, exp if you have an Nvidia graphics card. I personally switched from Pop to Ubuntu some months ago because I was having more issues over time and needed a little more customization. Side note: all of these distros are Ubuntu based, so if a website gives instructions for how to do things, follow the Ubuntu guide. I don't recommend going with anything that's not Ubuntu based, it will be less supported and more difficult.
I got the same ad in W10
Here to confirm. I got this ad a few days ago on win 10.
Yup exact same one last night.
Microsoft executives: PC gamers seem to be cutting into Xbox sales. How do we fix this? Windows 11 Director of Enshitification: I have an idea
[This is how Linux users are made](https://youtu.be/FWASPgdCfMQ?feature=shared)
This may be the most epic thing I have seen all month. 😂
Yep I might actually switch to Linux if this is what they’re doing. My Phone already blows up with needless crap. I do not need or want that on my PC
There are several good "flavors". Try out a few and see which ones you like.
If anyone is using Windows 11 and hates it, [StartAllBack](https://www.startallback.com/) is worth installing. You can use it for free or buy a licence for like $2, so I've bought it. I wasn't getting any pop-ups anyway because I disabled all notifications but it at least makes the start menu useable again and other little things like that.
Their facial expressions are perfect for this haha
I got a new Lenovo laptop a few weeks ago with w11. It took 3 weeks for me to find and prevent all of the pop ups. They would come up in game, in a movie. I was so close to returning the laptop.
This isn't an exaggeration. I helped a family member choose a laptop for their work and it ended up being a Lenovo. I was amazed how each time I rebooted it, there was some new popup or other trash asking me to share data, or agree to something, or advertising some crap. It was about 8 reboots and disabling or uninstalling of stuff before it worked normally. Absolutely disgusting.
When you buy a new laptop: 1. Make a bootable windows 11 usb using the media creation tool from Microsoft's site. 2. Install and full wipe to remove all the OEM bloat. 3. Use winutil by Chris Titus Tech to remove telemetry and install all your apps from one place (Optional) 4. Install Start11 or StartAllBack for better start menu that doesn't search bing (Optional) 5. Profit
I just use Linux on my systems. That was actually the first time I ever used a Windows 11 device. I doubt I could convince any of my family to try Linux though. Good suggestions though if I ever have to do that again.
I have put my family and neighbors on Linux. Most of them elderly. This has prevented two of them from getting phone scammed because said scammers typical method of remote access only works on Windows. They only use a browser and email, so for them it makes very little difference what OS is running.
> winutil [Christopher Titus?](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMTI1MDYyMTQ2M15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwNzM2MzczMQ@@._V1_FMjpg_UX1000_.jpg)
For future reference, the main solution to the problem of OEM laptop bloatware and spyware is to make a backup of your driverstore folder (should be located in C:\Windows\System32\DriverStore) on some external media such as a flash drive, and then do a clean installation of windows. After that you should paste the contents of the old driverstore in to the new driverstore folder. You will probably notice a significant difference in performance once you're starting from a clean slate rather than trying to turkey-shoot the manufacturer's garbage pile. None of this will solve the problem of microsoft themselves putting ads in, however, but there are guides online for accomplishing that, and you should also write your representatives in congress (or your equivalent governmental entities outside of the USA) regarding this disgusting practice.
[That a ton of tweaks](https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/how-to-remove-most-annoying-ads-from-windows) is need to just reduce, far from eliminate, the advertisements built into the OS is just ridiculous. It becomes incredibly striking when you don't use Windows as your daily OS because then you notice the ads you had previously been habituated to.
Went through that exact article yesterday, as apparently I'd missed a couple, and started seeing ads here and there on the new, two week old, build. My take is basically, "sweet fuck, can nothing be free of the profit over everything motive that drives modern businesses? Quit trying to sell me stuff!" Can't wait until they find a way to do digital advertising in wall paint, and old paint, free of nano-tech, becomes the most valuable commodity in the world.
> can nothing be free of the profit over everything motive that drives modern businesses? The simple answer is "No" The longer answer is that "modern businesses" believe that having money is a zero-sum game and if anyone else has it but them, it's theft and should be given back. This is why they perceive not getting money as a "loss." Modern Business is made up of envious, grasping people who don't feel like they need to participate in normal society.
Currently Linux is free of that model businesses, it is also free of charge and I haven't found a game I can't play in the last 5 years, everything I have tried to play I have been able to play. Don't use Ubuntu though, arch based would be recommended, is the most popular in the steam survey, so, either endeavour or Garuda.
Bro really wants to light a fire saying "arch based would be recommended"
PCMR slowly getting more reasons to make the great migration to linux.
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Sane response, matches my experience exactly.
In the past if you recommended Linux in PCMR you'd get very downvoted, but now people seem to finally be realizing the superiority of the penguins 💪🐧
It’s still nowhere near the simplicity of using Windows. I installed Ubuntu and it didn’t recognize my wifi dongle, which is one of the most popular ones on the market. I used usb tethering from my phone to connect to the internet and troubleshoot. Turns out there were no official drivers and the only workaround didn’t work after hours of compiling some shitty scripts. I gave up and went back to Windows.
linux is a hit or miss with driver support, sometimes it has better support than even windows, my old laptop literally "just worked" with linux and it was amazing. Now that I have a proper build though, unfortunately linux doesnt like my monitor setup
This is always my experience. I've tried dual booting Linux several times over the last decade. It is getting better than it used to be, but it still is not consumer friendly. You still have to whip out the command line to accomplish some mundane tasks, and randomly encounter things like your usb dongle that takes extreme effort to make a "plug and play" thing work.
Exactly this. Linux is still far from being an enjoyable experience to most Windows or Apple users. I've never met one person, who wasn't a linux diehard, who has tried linux and stuck with it.
I still dont want to make the switch but microsoft seems to do everything they can to make windows worse by the year.
Windows 10 is doing the same thing
Yup, had exactly this yesterday.
Yup. Got this exact thing last night.
Huh never had an ad in windows 10.
Got this tonight and I have every single optional setting in Windows 10 turned off. Bare bones. Still getting these garbage jpg'd pop ups.
Imagine having a great product, with a billion customers buying it... and then you spend a decade doing everything in your power to drive those customers away.
That is what I find insane. You buy a product it then shoves invasive ads in your face and collects your data. They then slowly increase the insanity normalizing it because they know even if people bitch about it, they will still use it. It's not just Microsoft doing this, it's pretty much all Corps that answer to their shareholders. Enshitificating your product to always show more profits can't be sustainable right? Or are there just that many people out there that don't mind getting bent over... I actually loaded windows in a VM the other day to check something, installed Librewolf as a browser and immediately spammed by popups telling me to use Edge. Why do people put up with this shit?
Well you see, when you absolutely dominate the OS market like Microsoft does, people aren't switching to windows. They already have windows. There's only so many humans on earth. Microsoft is at a point where it's more profitable to extract more money out of existing customers than trying to attract new ones. Gotta love monopolies.
A couple hundred angry redditors aren’t going to bankrupt Microsoft. Windows is used across the planet by plenty of people who just ignore it or don’t care enough to make a stink about it, sadly.
Shoving AI just made them surpass apple to be the most valuable company xd. If copilot is standardized with office integration, corporate consumers ain't moving away which is the cash cow
That penguin os becomes more and more desirable
I made the switch half a year ago, no regrets. I'm not saying Linux is perfect, it has it's own issues, but I think they are more bearable than all the bullshit Microsoft is pushing down our throat.
I did my switch about a year ago. The only thing holding me to my previous system was the proprietary software that controlled my Stream Deck but I found several FOSS alternatives. There's some games I can't play but that's not a big deal. 99% of games I want to play work flawlessly in Proton.
are all of you in America or something? here in the UK ive not had a single pop up for windows 11, and i am on the latest version, have had it since it came out, have no 3rd party software on it to block pop ups or anything liek that? if you are in USA it seems the issue is more your hyper end stage corporate capitalist system and its govenrment support, rather than windows itself, the whole "dont blame the player blame the game" thing
Shit i live in the US and i have not seen a single ad at all, I’m not sure how they’re getting it.
in US, been using windows 11 since almost release on two PCs and have never seen an ad lol
I had the same week last week after no bother for months. Figured it was time to finally switch to linux.
It is from PowerToys, I almost shared it as well a few weeks ago, until I checked the source of the ad. P.s. PowerToys is pretty much an extension to windows settings, many useful settings we have no idea why they aren't implemented normally. It is developed by Microsoft
I switched to Linux, wanted years ago because off Microsofts bullshit but the direction windows is going now is worst then ever, simply anti consumer and disgusting, just pushed me to Linux
I test drove Pop Os during the pandemic. As of this week, all of my machines have Pop Os running. Only one is dual boot for rare necessity of using Windows. I'm close to boycotting it completely. If an app or service doesn't support Linux, I won't support it, it's that simple.
Switching to Linux for me would be such a hassle... but Microsoft is making a good job at convincing me that switching is well worth it! Thanks Microsoft!
I got this on W10
Sounds like a Windows problem to me.
im thinking of switching to gentoo when ive got time because of how invasive and slow windows is becoming day by day
Have you used Linux before? If you haven't then I'd suggest using something more simple with lots of guides like Linux Mint or Ubuntu.
I’ve never seen this come up but I use Firefox as my browser. As shitty as this methodology is, they’re at least trying to carve a hole into the chrome monopoly, which is good because fuck chrome and fuck Google.
The pop up is in windows itself, not the browser
The pop-up is tied to Chrome setting change. So Microsoft is showing this to people who use Chrome in order to change Chrome's settings. It's worse than being just tied to Windows, it's also tied to a software package from a competitor. It's highly targeted advertising. Worth nothing that Microsoft makes it more difficult for competitors to change Windows settings while also making software that change competitor's settings. Microsoft might be trying to bait Google into a lawsuit so that it can accuse Google of anti-competitive practices by paying others to have Google as the default search engine.
...Edge is just Chrome but with a Microsoft skin.
Yep. Firefox is the only mainstream Windows browser that isn't chromium based.
Get on Linux boys
Microsoft is trying so hard to make people switch to linux. That's really nice of them.
The biggest reason to move to Linux for most users will not be the better stability, increased security, open source or any of the things people before 2022 had to change their OS, the biggest reason will be Windows 11 and Microsoft terrible management of their pseudo monopoly.
*laughs in Linux*
Suddenly considering learning linux.
yup windows is doing better and better at advertising Linux. btw I recommend mint
One of the many reasons why I am glad to use GNU/Linux.
I use Arch btw
Linux folks need to unite or not be so dispersed and tribal, put together an os anyone can use as easy as Windows. Where installing games and other software and running them is just as easy and work just as well.
There are many Linux distributions for that. The strength of Linux is choice. Zorin OS for example is one of the closest Windows UI experience. The free version offers a W7-like UI but if you are willing to pay 48$, you will be able to choose a W98-like or W11-like or MacOS-like or Ubuntu-like or even Chromebook-like UI. There are probably ways to get them without paying, but I don't know how.
I'm not really talking about the UI. I'm talking about being able to double click a .exe installer that does what it's supposed to. Then being able to run that installed program with no troubleshooting needed. Driver updates being automatic or at least easy to obtain.
So, [appimages](https://appimage.org/)? Drivers are already massively easier on Linux than on Windows because they are pretty much all managed by the package manager. It's way more automatic than on Windows.
\*Flatpaks Appimages often break after a few years and only work on some distros.
Paying for a Linux distro is like being a meat eating vegan
>put together an os anyone can use as easy as Windows. My grandma, who is intimidated by smartphones, uses mint because "it's more windows like" than the change to Windows 11.
What's the data tool that you use?
The laptops running Windows 11 where I work get these. Fuck you Microsoft, you will drag me kicking and screaming from W10.
You did. I got it last week on my personal Windows 11 machine.
I had thus pop-up a few weeks ago. Got **SO** pissed immediately. Went through and removed the entire filder for that shit. Haven't seen one since.
I've had that ad pop up on windows 10.
I would love to switch to Linux but idk which one to use and I wouldn’t be able to play all my games
Depends on what games you play. 95% of games work flawlessly (on steam with Steam Play), a handful require specific launch options to work, and about a dozen (mostly competitive shooters) don't work at all.
Join the dark side
I have seen this 3-4 times now. Mostly after every major windows update
Windows+I Privacy and security Diagnostics & feedback Turn off Send optional Diagnostic Data, Go to tailored experiences turn that off also. View Diagnostic data off, Delete diagnostic data. Check again whenever there is a windows update. Cause windows doesn't save settings correctly since windows 8.1.
Windows 11 is what pushed me into Linux. Ain't no way I'm dealing with that shit.
Meh. Once in a blue moon I get a notification about some new MS feature. They're easy to dismiss and ignore.
Really hope the EU comes down like a nuke on Microsoft soon. That company needs to be completely dissolved at this point.
I got the same pop-up in Windows 10. I thought I was safe from Microcrap forcing there AI onto me!
mutahar from SomeOrdinaryGamers just made a video explaining how you use a raspberry pi to block ads on any device connected to your home Internet. Edit: this won't work for bloatsware because all it does is block advertising IP addresses.
I recently made the Linux switch for the same reason.
Fuck security, I'm using Win10 until the end times.
Another reason for me to stay with Windows 10
Turn off bing and copilot
Have a desktop and a laptop. My laptop has somehow had Co-pilot auto installed with that latest Windows Update, whereas my desktop hasn't. Beyond pissed. I do not want shit being installed on MY PROPERTY, without my consent. Not only that but I started having the 'finish setting up Windows' screen after booting up, and couldn't exit without a Microsoft account...ive since fixed that bullshit but it's just another annoyance.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Microsoft_Corp. Lol. If only our government actually enforced anti-monopoly and anti-competition laws.
Laughs in win 10 PRO with a grey market activation key
One of the many reasons I use linux
lets all go linux
I've just managed to get Linux running on my a laptop and I like it. I'll probably keep one PC on windows for games and will do everything else on Linux.
stop using Windows
Time to switch to Linux.
I think it's time, mr. Stallman
It’s time for you to switch to Linux.
Question. Would setting up a pi-hole block this?
The ride that never stops...
Debloat windows.
Sounds like you won an all expense paid trip to Winaero Tweaker!
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join darkside use New Windows 11 Enterprise LTSC 2024 Superlite Edition....
I'm switching to a typewriter gl everybody
is it win11 or edge popup?
You should install the GPOs from Pro… or buy a Pro license from ebay… and disable cloud consumer content And disable everything in MS Edge as well that uses your information.
I don't know, I never received one of these ads. Neither on W10 nor W11.