Sorry to be that guy: Install Linux?
But seriously: l'd like to know as well.
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
Sorry to be that guy: Install Linux?
But seriously: l'd like to know as well.
I hate this response but it was my first thought this time.
The worst part is that its not a bad response. Linux mint is such a good alternative.
I ditched Windows for a Linux Mint just over a month ago. Best decision.
I ditched Linux Mint for TempleOS. The holiest decision I've ever made.
Came here to make this (half)joke.
Sadly, it's not just a joke, it's also the only way to actually do this.
I recently moved to Linux mint after years of thinking it would be hard or wouldn't offer the tools I needed. I've been extremely pleasantly surprised! I've moved over fully, working in CAD, spreadsheets, all the normal stuff without any hassle. And none of these pop ups anymore.
It’s like the Microsoft anti-trust trial in 2001 never happened.
Using W11 today, that's my first thought too...It's just ad after ad for Microsoft services. You will fucking install O365 or Microsoft will kill a kitten.
Got this via Mastodon which will not let me search for the source.
If you're in the US, when you set up Windows for the first time, select English (Europe) or English (World), not English (US). That will stop it installing all the bloatware that USians are not protected from but everyone else is.
It's definitely a US thing, I'm on English (Singapore) and have not seen an ad, ever. I was perplexed by all the complaints of ads in the start menu and wherever, until someone pointed to me that it was a US thing.
You must switch back to English (US) after installation if you want access to Microsoft Store (and even if you don't, you probably should because most apps are now there).
I've seen a few tools to suppress most telemetry such as ChrisTitusTech's winutil or O&O ShutUp, maybe you could give that a try. Microsoft is really pushing hard Bing & Edge...
Also, as a Linux user, I must obliged to the rules and say there's alternatives out there if you want to try something new. :-) !linux@lemmy.ml
Use Firefox and uBlock origin
Do you have a moment to talk about our lord and savior, Linus Torvolds?
Akshually Linus Torvalds is a prophet, Richard Stallman is our lord
That's GNU/Richard Stallman to you!
Why does it seem like any issue with Windows is met by "INSTALL LINUX!!!!". If the check engine light on my car comes on I am not going to buy a truck.
Yeah you could probably just install Linux on your car and bypass that light instead of buying a truck.
But if your car has flat tires every 3000 miles, the engine explodes occasionally for no reason, the dash display keeps telling you about accessories you don't want instead of your speed, and the factory door locks are coat hangers twisted into an O ring, then shopping around seems like a good idea.
The fundament of GNU/Linux and Windows are totally different. The annoying things with Windows are just symptoms of the underlying principle, which is to milk you as much as possible. It's like switching from smoking to not smoking
Don't use chrome
Edge/Windows is literally the technological equivalent of an obsessive ex-girlfriend.
Use software like shutupwin10 or various other open source debloat scripts to remove a shit-ton of annoying features in windows. Or, as lemmy galaxy-brains would have it, JuSt uSe LiNuX
One way would be to switch your default search engine to Bing in Chrome.
How about you galaxy brain "just switch to linux" people actually give some helpful advice? Clearly there's a registry edit that can be made for Windows users that would take all of 5 seconds to complete, rather than an entire week formatting, installing, reconfiguring an entirely new OS that also requires a degree of command line knowledge.
I'd like to mention Windows 10 LTSC here. It's an official Windows 10 Edition from Microsoft, designed for enterprise and embedded usage. Therefore it has no bloatware, no annoying feature updates, no ads and only the absolute minimum of telemetry. If you don't like Windows but somehow have to use it, this might be the right choice for you.
Click Yes.
It's so desperate.
It is time to stray away from Windows.
Sailing the high seas for an enterprise edition, combined with https://www.oo-software.com/en/shutup10
The above is my solution until taking the other advice on this thread and transitioning to Linux. Only thing holding me back there is gaming (which already works great for most people, I had trouble with my GPU). There are so many things about Linux that are just better than Windows now, and a high number of use cases these days are met with Firefox and libre office.