What did you change first?

Edwin · Oct 16, 2021

SlicEnDicE said:
Define bloatware.

"Get Started"

barman58 · Oct 16, 2021

I rarely have any issue with bloatware, as I usually either fresh install to Bare metal, and from an official Microsoft source, or I upgrade from a current working system so all the things I won't use are allegedly there for a reason so I just ignore them.

Bloat is something you see in Standard systems from Big suppliers, and this will vary on the supplier and the nature of the system you purchase

I am currently running just the two systems, my Desktop was built to my speciation from a pro system builder, the only "bloat" on the system was their logo and contact details in the standard support section of Windows 10 Pro. They also included the driver "extensions" which could be classed as bloat as they are not essential but are useful to control built in hardware.

My laptop, a Dell XPS 17 9700 had a little more Bloat but this was actually well placed and useful, though I replaced most with my own preferred applications for Malware protection and things such as live cell phone connection software

LeLibran · Oct 16, 2021

The only changes I've initially made have been to edit which app 'shortcuts' appear in the Task Bar and in Start Menu (first screen) and remove any duplication.

Have loaded only one freeware portable utility app, Sordum's Windows 11 Classic Context Menu which can be used to Toggle between the standard Win 11 Context Menu and the full pre-Win 11 style.

My personal preference is to install nothing which 'permanently' changes OS behaviour simply to emulate how Win 10, or any other OS, worked, as, for me, that totally undermines the process of learning about Win 11 and understanding its design/functionality; and it also potentially affects the testing of any future changes/fixes that will inevitably be introduced as Win 11 matures. Running a 'clean' installation is also the only way to be able to provide positive and constructive feedback to MS on any negative impacts of the current design and features. Meanwhile, if I want/need a PC that continues to provides the familiarity of Win 10, Win 7, or whatever else, then I'll continue do that on a different device (Physical, Virtual, 'Win to Go' or Dual Boot).

swarfega · Oct 16, 2021

winget uninstall cortana is the first thing I do.

swarfega · Oct 16, 2021

Feuer said:
I change this settings with a batch file first.
Set Environment Variables PATH Entry
Activate Language Support Unicode UTF-8
Activate PowerShell ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted
Disable Block Downloaded Files
Disable UAC prompt for Built-in-Administrator Account
UAC Never Notify
Disable Optimize Drives Service
Disable Windows Search Service
Disable Reserved Storage

How do you enable utf8?

Edwin · Oct 16, 2021

I consider all the install on demand apps to be bloatware.

Edwin · Oct 16, 2021

Edwin said:
I consider all the install on demand apps to be bloatware.

K, maybe not bloatware..., let's call 'em nags.
I'd rather they send me an email to suggest apps, then put them in the Start Menu where I have to go to extra lengths to dispose of them!

Quandary · Oct 16, 2021

None of the above. After a clean install:
- Changed to Dark mode
- Changed Display Scale from 150% to 125% (byproduct is 6 icons in Recommended)
- Removed Widgets & Search from TaskBar, and turned on hide
and many other things from my install checklist

BunnyJ · Oct 16, 2021

Singleton said:
I knew I'd miss some options. Care to share what changes you've made, or have you left it vanilla?

Well,, for me I left just about everything alone. The only change I made was to get rid of the more options from the context menu. I found a reg edit provided by Shawn. Other than that I didn't have a reason to change a thing

Feuer · Oct 16, 2021

swarfega said:
How do you enable utf8?

Code:

REG ADD "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Nls\CodePage" /v "ACP" /t REG_SZ /d "65001" /f
REG ADD "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Nls\CodePage" /v "OEMCP" /t REG_SZ /d "65001" /f
REG ADD "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Nls\CodePage" /v "MACCP" /t REG_SZ /d "65001" /f

Credit goes to Brink.

Maybe it is different for languages,
watch "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Nls\CodePage" key when you activate your utf8 support.

swarfega · Oct 16, 2021

Thanks!

Singleton · Oct 17, 2021

Timaximus said:
The only thing a changed is the 'Context Menu' behaving, no 'more'. For the rest I like the given UI.

As add-on I only installed 'ElevenClock' and 'RoundedTB'.

Thanks for the tip on RoundedTB. That really makes the Centered Taskbar much more palatable and gets us closer to the Mac Dock which MS has been coveting since macOS came out. Well, when OSX came out.

Hazel123 · Oct 17, 2021

What does rounded TB do/look like?

I am still hopping between left taskbar and centre. It doesn’t quite work on the left with that design for me. Better in the centre - except then you’re limited to the number of apps pinned to the taskbar as therun into the right taskbar icons.

I actually tried installing star dock - start 11. But the windows 10 menu option wasn’t quite windows 10 - it worked, it was ok, but I did notice slight slowing up in usage and split second delays so uninstalled again.

So the start menu is still frustrating me - the lack of any option to change colours. Either washed out grey, or all black. No middle ground! It actually all looks better in dark mode IMO - more contrast and colour pop - except I don’t want all black.

In W10 you could have the start menu one colour and the rest in light mode.

hdmi · Oct 17, 2021

LeLibran said:
The only changes I've initially made have been to edit which app 'shortcuts' appear in the Task Bar and in Start Menu (first screen) and remove any duplication.

Have loaded only one freeware portable utility app, Sordum's Windows 11 Classic Context Menu which can be used to Toggle between the standard Win 11 Context Menu and the full pre-Win 11 style.

My personal preference is to install nothing which 'permanently' changes OS behaviour simply to emulate how Win 10, or any other OS, worked, as, for me, that totally undermines the process of learning about Win 11 and understanding its design/functionality; and it also potentially affects the testing of any future changes/fixes that will inevitably be introduced as Win 11 matures. Running a 'clean' installation is also the only way to be able to provide positive and constructive feedback to MS on any negative impacts of the current design and features. Meanwhile, if I want/need a PC that continues to provides the familiarity of Win 10, Win 7, or whatever else, then I'll continue do that on a different device (Physical, Virtual, 'Win to Go' or Dual Boot).

As far as the Start Menu and the Taskbar are concerned, there's nothing to learn aside from the fact that they suck hard.

The first thing I did was to restore the Taskbar from Windows 10 by using the UndockingDisabled registry hack and apply all the necessary changes to get it as close as possible to how it used to be: install and configure Open-Shell, reinstate my Taskbar Toolbars, re-enable the System icons, hide the Search and Task View, make the clock on taskbar show seconds, change the (classic) taskbar icons size to small to make the taskbar height smaller. Then finally, I saw this post:

Suggestions for new workflow without QuickLaunch & Toolbars?

I'm still on Win10, and my desktop PC is compatible with 11, but without the QuickLaunch and Toolbars I'm not planning on upgrading. ...that is, unless I can figure out how to maintain a similar efficient workflow without those features. If anyone has any suggestions, I'm open to ideas. I...

www.elevenforum.com

Been using ExplorerPatcher trouble-free for 2 days now (in concert with Open-Shell). As for it potentially affecting future changes/fixes, see Valinet's response here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows11/comments/q4kaav/_/hg4zwp6

My take on it is I see no reason to be worried, as it's easy enough to remove the dxgi.dll file from C:\Windows again and reboot after. No system files are being overwritten, so I don't believe it can hurt, and, the worst that could happen is that after a future update Windows ditches the code needed to restore the classic taskbar thereby effectively forcing us (as in, "we, the people who don't like to use GUI components with the usability level of a boulder"...) to go look for some kind of alternative solution.

Hazel123 · Oct 17, 2021

So I've now installed rounded tb as well. It looks good if you don't have the clock and battery settings on the right - (ie just the one, centred task bar) - not sure how you access those if system tray not showing. Also is there any way to shrink the taskbar more width ways with rounded tb? ie make the icons closer together. Can't see a way to do that - only to shrink the height.

LeLibran · Oct 17, 2021

hdmi said:
As far as the Start Menu and the Taskbar are concerned, there's nothing to learn aside from the fact that they suck hard.

The first thing I did was to restore the Taskbar from Windows 10 by using the UndockingDisabled registry hack and apply all the necessary changes to get it as close as possible to how it used to be: install and configure Open-Shell, reinstate my Taskbar Toolbars, re-enable the System icons, hide the Search and Task View, make the clock on taskbar show seconds, change the (classic) taskbar icons size to small to make the taskbar height smaller. Then finally, I saw this post:

Suggestions for new workflow without QuickLaunch & Toolbars?

I'm still on Win10, and my desktop PC is compatible with 11, but without the QuickLaunch and Toolbars I'm not planning on upgrading. ...that is, unless I can figure out how to maintain a similar efficient workflow without those features. If anyone has any suggestions, I'm open to ideas. I...

www.elevenforum.com

Been using ExplorerPatcher trouble-free for 2 days now (in concert with Open-Shell). As for it potentially affecting future changes/fixes, see Valinet's response here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows11/comments/q4kaav/_/hg4zwp6

My take on it is I see no reason to be worried, as it's easy enough to remove the dxgi.dll file from C:\Windows again and reboot after. No system files are being overwritten, so I don't believe it can hurt, and, the worst that could happen is that after a future update Windows ditches the code needed to restore the classic taskbar thereby effectively forcing us (as in, "we, the people who don't like to use GUI components with the usability level of a boulder"...) to go look for some kind of alternative solution.

@hdmi

Thanks for your observations and I understand your views, but ExplorerPatcher does nothing I need. In fact, I am quite content with the way the combination of built-in Win 11 launch options work (TaskBar & Start combined with Desktop shortcuts and Virtual Desktops). Taking into account that Microsoft has been indicating for some considerable time it's intention to remove the resource wasteful Live Tiles feature and also that Tablet Mode has also been removed in Windows 11 it seems inevitable that design changes and compromises had to be made; and the end result, for me, works O.K. Perhaps the fact that I work with a variety of Desktops on an almost daily basis including MacOS and Linux (primarily Gnome, KDE and Xfce) in addition to a number of Windows versions makes me more accepting of varied approaches to interface design; but I'm also pretty sure that MS will implement changes and introduce its own enhancements to the Win 11 desktop once the dust settles. At the moment, their focus is primarily on promoting take up; and there is no doubt that the joint plan of Win 11 launch, combined with a lengthy support commitment for Win 10 users, has been successful so far.

As you say the ExplorerPatcher implementation is somewhat different to the other 'menu' modifiers; and it is relatively easy to completely reverse the its effects (uninstall) by following the developer's guidance, but each to their own it's simply not for me.

hdmi · Oct 17, 2021

swarfega said:
How do you enable utf8?

A Guide to Changing the System Locale on Windows 11

The post guides users on modifying the System Locale in Windows 11 to manage programs not supporting Unicode character-encoding standards. The process involves accessing the System Settings pane…

websiteforstudents.com

Please note, the "Beta" here means that although the UTF-8 code page is officially supported as of Windows 10 1903 May 2019 Update, not all APIs have been updated by Mickeysoft to support UTF-8 yet, so you may run into problems if you enable this option.

Lesoudeur · Oct 17, 2021

Timaximus said:
The only thing a changed is the 'Context Menu' behaving, no 'more'. For the rest I like the given UI.

As add-on I only installed 'ElevenClock' and 'RoundedTB'.

'RoundedTB', just downloaded it and like it. Thanks.

hdmi · Oct 17, 2021

LeLibran said:
@hdmi

Thanks for your observations and I understand your views, but ExplorerPatcher does nothing I need. In fact, I am quite content with the way the combination of built-in Win 11 launch options work (TaskBar & Start combined with Desktop shortcuts and Virtual Desktops). Taking into account that Microsoft has been indicating for some considerable time it's intention to remove the resource wasteful Live Tiles feature and also that Tablet Mode has also been removed in Windows 11 it seems inevitable that design changes and compromises had to be made; and the end result, for me, works O.K. Perhaps the fact that I work with a variety of Desktops on an almost daily basis including MacOS and Linux (primarily Gnome, KDE and Xfce) in addition to a number of Windows versions makes me more accepting of varied approaches to interface design; but I'm also pretty sure that MS will implement changes and introduce its own enhancements to the Win 11 desktop once the dust settles. At the moment, their focus is primarily on promoting take up; and there is no doubt that the joint plan of Win 11 launch, combined with a lengthy support commitment for Win 10 users, has been successful so far.

As you say the ExplorerPatcher implementation is somewhat different to the other 'menu' modifiers; and it is relatively easy to completely reverse the its effects (uninstall) by following the developer's guidance, but each to their own it's simply not for me.

I was only trying to point out why your remark of "for me, that totally undermines the process of learning about Win 11 and understanding its design/functionality; and it also potentially affects the testing of any future changes/fixes that will inevitably be introduced as Win 11 matures" doesn't really make much sense at all, at least to me. Also, I can't for the life of me see how the simple removal of basic functionalities that can optionally be used to help to improve productivity (the ability to drag and drop files onto pinned apps, taskbar toolbars and a taskbar clock that gives the option to show seconds on all display devices in a multimonitor setup, etc.,...) meets your description of "their focus is primariliy on promoting take up" when, clearly, in that regard their focus was primarily on being as typifyingly annoying as they possibly could have been.