Currently on Linux - might switch; need some insight about the current state of Windows 11 ...

I don't get the whole automatic updates problem. Windows can easily be set to manual updates in the group policy editor. If set to manual updates Windows does not even update the virus definitions automatically.

Omnimaxus said:

Hi to everyone. I can't believe I'm doing this, but I'm contemplating leaving Linux for the time being. Linux is great, yes, but ... yeah. I mean, it's gaining popularity (good), but at the same time, I do sometimes miss the convenience that Windows offers. Especially given how things "just work" on Windows. Same for the massive games library (no need for Crossover or Proton). Ditto for the enormous application offerings. I miss how applications can be installed. Just double-click on an .exe or .MSI and presto; you have a program ready to use. No Snaps or Flatpaks. I don't mind .DEB files, but you need an internet connection a lot of the time to properly install programs so their dependencies can be downloaded and installed. Again, Linux is great. Yes. Don't get me wrong.

But it's things like Wayland and X11 that can be annoying or seen as irritating to deal with. Wayland is simply not ready for primetime, period. X11 is fine, but it's dying. My question is, how is Windows 11 nowadays? Especially with recent reporting (by Windows Central, for example) that Microsoft has listened to users and made changes to improve the Windows experience (e.g., better control over the OS, better system performance, and less bloat along with the option to remove stuff like Copilot)? That's the part I'm curious about. I have a Windows 11 Pro license, too, so using Group Policy Editor is nice, too. Bottomline: Is Windows 11 (in its current state as of today) more tolerable; more user-oriented? Please advise; thanks very much. (Hope this is the right subforum to post in, by the way.)

Click to expand...

TBH there is a lot about Win11 I don't care for; but then there was a lot about Win 10 that I didn't care for either. I'm also a Linux user. (Not a power user but..) My advice is to keep both and run with dual boot. To be fair, Win 11 has improved over the years and I would imagine that once they get everything working smoothly they'll be pushing us to get on the next version of Windows like they always do.

Once you eliminate the nasties it isn't half bad. The PAINT app got worse. There are better apps to replace it with. I had to eliminate bit locker and One Drive because my configurations never mattered after a critical update. We are told that they eliminated Recall BUT can that be completely trusted? Win 11 has less bloat than Win 10 (an OS I never used on my work stations). Win 11 also got rid of the Keylogger and Cortana, so in this regard I consider it superior to Win 10. I'm old school so the last Windows OS that ever really impressed me was Windows 7 Ultimate.

Operating systems can be very personal and there is likely not one that will suit everyone's needs or preferences. Everyone has their own preference so that's why I would recommend keeping both Linux and Win 11. I hope this helps.

Scannerman said:

TBH there is a lot about Win11 I don't care for; but then there was a lot about Win 10 that I didn't care for either. I'm also a Linux user. (Not a power user but..) My advice is to keep both and run with dual boot. To be fair, Win 11 has improved over the years and I would imagine that once they get everything working smoothly they'll be pushing us to get on the next version of Windows like they always do.

Once you eliminate the nasties it isn't half bad. The PAINT app got worse. There are better apps to replace it with. I had to eliminate bit locker and One Drive because my configurations never mattered after a critical update. We are told that they eliminated Recall BUT can that be completely trusted? Win 11 has less bloat than Win 10 (an OS I never used on my work stations). Win 11 also got rid of the Keylogger and Cortana, so in this regard I consider it superior to Win 10. I'm old school so the last Windows OS that ever really impressed me was Windows 7 Ultimate.

Operating systems can be very personal and there is likely not one that will suit everyone's needs or preferences. Everyone has their own preference so that's why I would recommend keeping both Linux and Win 11. I hope this helps.

Click to expand...

Instead of the ugly modern MS Paint you can use the good old Windows 7 version thanks to Winaero. OneDrive and anything else you don't use can be set to never sync or disabled. Recall is only for modern Copilot+ PCs. Older PCs don't have it enabled by default, let alone unsupported ones, so not fear here. Same for automatic drive encryption, is not forced by default on unsupported PCs and BitLocker is disabled by default. Like I said once you tweak Windows 11 to your liking it is very good, very easy to use and most important, much more compatible with any hardware and application. Yes, in Linux you can find some applications to do what you want, or quite what you want with a lot of compromise compared to well known commercial alternatives. But in Windows you can use the original commercial applications, not any lousy substitutes, and even if you wanted free open source, there are much more to choose from, not only few. Also in Windows you can blindly buy any gadget or other device you like and you can make it work, but in Linux you must first check if there are Linux drivers before buying. And even with Linux drivers it often has limited functionality compared to Windows. No thanks, As long as Windows is the major OS, I stick with it. Unless Android or some other alternative gets serious and starts supporting desktop PCs with drivers and all, not "if it plays you are lucky". It wouldn't harm to release some Android drivers for Android-x86 and support some printers and other devices. Also Android apps should differentiate between small touch devices (smartphones or tablets) and PCs offering more features and functionality on the latter including copy-paste between apps which you can't do on your mobile. Then and only then it would be a serious alternative to Windows and much more user friendly than other Linux distros.

spapakons said:

copy-paste between apps which you can't do on your mobile.

Click to expand...

Pardon me, but this is completely false information.

Yes you can copy paste on Android between apps.







View attachment Screen_Recording_20260831_071134_Samsung Browser_convert.mp4