Microsoft Finally Realizes Nobody Wants Its Windows 11 Preinstalled Bloatware

PS> get-appxpackage *teams* | remove-appxpackage

You could always uninstall Teams and still can, regularly via the Settings app.

Very few people use remote desktop.

Remote Desktop App vs Remote Desktop Connection.

I agree with that “and”

Remote Desktop is dead. Azure killed it. TeamViewer is the replacement (and yes you have to pay for it) or you pick another third party vendor for your RDP needs.

Not far enough. It'd be lovely if I could scale Windows down to almost 7 gigs or so (what windows 10 is, probably should be lower) But the thing is Windows in general is just a bloated piece of crap that continues to grow.

Nothing. But having the option to uninstall them like any other app is nice for whenever it might be relevant.

The remote desktop they are talking about is the client app used to connect to remote systems.

The remote desktop feature that's limited to Pro is the ability for the system to receive remote connections.

"What's a checkbox? Oh, you mean that thing we use to trick users into 'consenting' to telemetry?"

I've been gaming on Tumbleweed now for a month and my issues are minor enough that a tweak or two gets me flawless performance - and that's if there's an issue. Highly recommend embracing the penguin, comrades.

I installed Fedora on a seperate SSD, and I now dual-boot alongside Windows 11. It took a bit of time and tweaking until I felt comfortable with using Fedora as my daily driver, but it's been great.

Everything is smooth and fast, and I have all the apps I need. Well, almost. I subscribe to Game Pass, and have a couple of Steam games that don't run on Linux, so I have to boot into Windows when I want to play those games. Other than that, it's all great.

It's a very general advice, but for gaming rolling release distros are usually best. Gaming community on Linux usually favors Fedora or Arch-based distros.

It's pretty much at parity. The only straggler I am aware of is ray tracing on the AMD side (supported on their driver package, but not yet with the driver included in the Linux kernel). I never use it anyway because I have a 6600 XT and don't want to play a slideshow.

Yeah, having the option is not a bad thing. Nothing changes for those who use the apps or want them there, but it lets people remove them if that's what they want.

I thought they dropped support for Cortana. Is she back (maybe as "The Weapon")?

But Windows always came with Solitaire - even 30+ years ago. It was included originally to teach users how to use a mouse. Solitaire makes you click, double click and drag.

Removing Solitaire caused its own backlash. They can't win with that one.

my work is transitioning to it soon, I'll have to find similar scrips soonish.

Have they fixed the store version so it can do multiple monitors yet? Also local folder redirects?

"if I don't use it, it's useless"

Every company I've worked for so far had me use RDC at some point, either to connect to a server or to an app.

I think it's a soft heading - they could be more honest and blunt, but a history of reporting like that may jeopardize any relationship they might have with Microsoft - with regards to press releases or advertising money and stuff like that.

I don't find it plausible that the people at pcmag, who's reported in this domain for a long time, can't see past such light corporate fuckery.

Snarky anthropomorphization primarily serving clickbait and liability-limiting, I think, pretty clearly.

Really, the headline could just be "Microsoft To Allow Removing Preinstalled Apps", or "Bloatware Apps will be Removable After Windows 11 Update", or something like that. But the way they worded it lets them both sound more sarcastic to people who are pissed off by the scummy practice, and at the same time also sound plausibly less direct in calling Microsoft out.

All Linux distros give you the choice of installing and uninstalling whatever you want.

Yeah, but when you boot a linux machine the cpu goes down to 0% load after you log in and stays there. Microsofts bloat runs in the background constantly. A windows laptop turns the fan on randomly when the lid was closed for a fucking day.

First off love the way you described them. Secondly, it reminds me of how microsoft keeps trying to charge my empty fake credit card I use for Xbox game pass. (You need to put a credit card to get any free month so I use a dummy). I get an email when they charge it literally twice a week like PLEASE JUST A SCRAP OF MONEY

I’ve got a scheduled task that checks every 3 seconds if edge is running and kills it. It’s Called fuckedge.ps1

They will just be replaced with something else that you can't remove.

Yup 99,9% bait and switch

Boomers struggle period, its hard being stupid

Gradeschoolers, yes.

Not so much anymore. Gradescoolers all grew up on iPads and are probably worse off than boomers.

Er, it's not the boomers who are struggling. They're barely even in the workforce anymore.

https://www.theatlantic.com/sponsored/grow-google-2019/smartphone-generation-computer-help/3127/

I know it's fun to rag our boomer parents and grandparents but it was boomers who designed the older, "complex" UI for usage by other boomers. Since boomers are now dropping out of the workforce (25% of it right now) it seems likely that the UI is being dumbed down for the much larger Gen-X/Millennial/Gen Z workforce.

Apparently a large portion of the population, regardless of generation, proudly announces their tech illiteracy. I'm IT, and these people don't even remember their personal email passwords.

Agreed. I have been working so hard to get my young kids to understand file systems, directory structures, keyboard shortcuts, etc; all that stuff that just never gets learned anymore with all the iOS/Android interactions.

I’m building a new PC for myself in the next few weeks and if they want to continue playing Genshin/Starcraft2/BeamNG/Trackmania on my older PC as it becomes the “Family PC” they will need to sit with me and learn how to reassemble it, install Windows, attaching peripherals, and setup a few basic things.

That’s the price and that’s the reward.

Many of us grew up in a world where you had to figure this shit out or simply not have a working computer/piece of software.

That's why I stopped using it at home (apart from stuff like like NAS, routers, etc).

This was a few years ago so perhaps it's been addressed now. I installed Ubuntu and downloaded Steam to install. It wouldn't. I can't remember exactly why but I had to find answers online and quickly gave up.

I turned that laptop on over a year later and Ubuntu was out of date and needed upgrading. It couldn't install the latest version because it needed to upgrade to versions in between, some of which have been moved to archive. I installed Windows 10 instead.

I'm responsible for a couple of Linux servers at work so I'm sure I could have addressed these issues at home, but I really couldn't be bothered when I have better things to spend my time on. I just wanted a working Laptop that gets used occasionally.

I agree completely. I've been lucky enough to have only an issue where Steam keeps my computer from sleeping regardless of power save settings. I've had friends that have tried the same set up as me, and for some reason the computer fails to boot after a simple upgrade (apt upgrade). So I really do mean it when I wouldn't recommend it. But if someones feeling adventurous it can be fun to try out and see if it works for you.

Some games use kernel-level anticheat. Unfortunately, because there is a kernel driver involved, it must be specifically ported to Linux, and some developers simply don't want to bother.

examples: Valorant, Roblox, PUBG

It's mostly going to be games that use anti-cheat software (though some work on Linux.)

So if you're someone who likes to bounce around to the hot new competitive online multiplayer title then Linux probably wont serve your needs right now. If you can't think of a single esports title you want to play, once you install Steam and Lutris you'll probably find nearly everything you want to play works.

Mostly games with anticheat or very new games. Everything else pretty much just works especially older games. I needed to visit pcgamingwiki all the time to get older games to work on windows but for linux I mostly just visit protondb and find out I don't need to do anything or need to just put in launch command. System shock 1 was the only game I had to actually go through a process to get it running with audio.

Games using Easy CheatEngine (or something like it)

The biggest one I miss, and it works, but the anti-cheat keeps me from my favorite servers is anything from the Red Orchestra series. I really enjoy their newer game Rising Storm 2 but the vast majority of the servers are protected with an anti-cheat that keeps me from joining. I've found a couple servers that don't use the anti-cheat and I can play on those, but they're not quite the same as some of the servers I have as favorites that are playable on Windows. Otherwise, most things generally work good, biggest problem is with launchers, and even those can be bypassed or fixed, but I've gotten to the point in my life where I just want things to work without having to remember what config files I've changed or futz with that may break in the future. The other games that I've had that don't work may as well now, but honestly I've forgotten what they were. One that I don't play, that I know a lot of people do is Destiny and I saw that they'll ban you if you try on Linux. But I've only heard that as I haven't played that on PC.

beyond anti-cheat and "just came out" there's one more category that often doesn't work: not-new, obscure games.

Anything that isn't pretty new and/or pretty popular may need to you run through some hoops to get running right.

If you like jumping from game to game a lot, I wouldn't recommend Linux, but if you stick to a few and play them for a long time (and you don't mind the extra work it is to learn a new OS) I think it would be worth making the switch.

Check out protondb.com for a pretty great resource in what games work/kind of work/don't work on linux (with proton specifically, which is how most people play Windows games on Linux). It's far more accurate than even Steam's own "verification" system for Steam Deck.

It's pretty amazing what they've done with it over the past few years.

Yea I've always found that complaint odd. I just assumed everyone who makes it also has the activate windows watermark, and thus can't access the option.

Great point. I still don't have an HDR monitor but that could be nice. Plus, if everything's working for you no need to switch it up! It's great that Microsoft is adding the ability to remove some of the programs a lot of people don't / wont use without having to copy and paste powershell commands. I remember there were some scripts / instructions on how to uninstall what would otherwise be uninstallable programs by opening a powershell as an administrator. I don't have anything against Windows, I just got tired of having so many ads put into my start menu and ads in the weather widget they added to the task bar after I paid $100+ for the OS way back when. But I'm not sure how their handling the "price" of Windows now.

I use Arch BTW. Sorry couldn't help myself.

A vegan, Linux using crossfitter walks up to you. What do they tell you about first?

Seems pretty appropriate in a thread complaining about an operating system.

How to tell if someone uses Windows? Don't worry, they will loudly bitch about how it sucks then proceed to shit on Linux users.

(This isn't you it's just something I'm seeing a lot more often lately)

It should tell people something that so many Linux users are happy enough with it to want to talk about it.

Article on subject

Someone brings up something relevant to the subject

REEEEE

It's the new iOS vs Android with everyone acting like tribal high schoolers weeee

I just googled "Linux distro without systemd" and google gave me a list of 11 right off the bat without even having to click any links. So yeah, not even systemd.

You can just install another init system

I have KDE and I don't even have KNotes on my laptop. What do you mean?

The package manag- oh it's windows right

Sure it's okay they come with a browser, but you should be able to uninstall edge after you've downloaded another browser

That's the Windows 95 lawsuit all over again. They forced internet explorer on people, got sued for creating & exploiting a monopoly, lost, and had to offer people the chance to remove it.

They claimed it's integral part of the OS, and so were forced to un-integrate it.

I'm sure they will find a way to give users a choice to get rid of Edge, if they really wanted to were forced yet again.

It's weird that people don't get more upset about ads in an OS they paid for.

Can you point me in the direction of how disable truly all of it? I don't want news/ads/recommendations in the start button, bottom bar, icon tray, search results etc.

Yeah, read what I am commenting on: Microsoft is letting you remove it. Seems like it is a handy item, certainly not as annoying as an ad or anything. And I also am commenting on how it is so useful, why do they ban the server from their home product?

This just seems like a really weird item to say: finally! you can remove the RDP client! Just like nobody ever asked for!

I think Microsoft is too reliant on advertising money for this pattern to hold true anymore. The pattern reads like superstition in the first place.

If the pattern holds windows 12 will be windows 14.

Relative to w*ndows 11.

That "pattern" (and I know it's probably meant to be more of a joke) is skewed to make it look like it's true. If 98 and 98 SE are separate for example, so should Windows 8.1 be, because it was quite a different beast from 8(.0). Actually, 8.1 was very solid, it had a lot of the "under the hood" improvements that Windows 10 had, but wasn't nearly as bloated.

Windows 10 or 11 are on a similar level of "bloated mess" to me, with Windows 10 having the advantage of an LTSC version existing, which is essentially an official "debloat". I'll probably jump to Windows 11 LTSC when it releases sometime in (likely) 2024.

What version on Linux is most like Windows? I'm not a gamer and nearly everything I do runs in a browser so compatibility isn't going to be an issue, but any time I've tried to migrate over it's been a nightmare of weird errors and non-stop troubleshooting

I'm sorry, but "I dual boot Fedora," has to be one of the most hipster/nechbeard sounding phrases I've ever heard.

First of all, if you want to insult someone, at least get the spelling right.

Secondly, there's nothing "nechbeard"-y or hipstery sounding about it at all. It's a tool. You use tools to do work.

If you want to assign some weird social construct to it to validate your own choices, that's fine. Just keep those opinions to yourself because no one cares about them, and they make you look small.

Linux