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ZDNET's cardinal takeaways
- Jack Wallen spends a week utilizing Windows 11.
- During this experiment, helium encountered a wide scope of issues.
- In the end, it made him admit Linux each the more.
"Why bash radical willingly usage Windows?" Less than 1 hr into my experiment, this question came to mind, and implicit the adjacent 7 days, I was incapable to get astatine an answer.
Hello, my sanction is Jack Wallen, and I'm a glutton for punishment. For immoderate reason, a week agone today, I decided to power my default operating strategy from Linux to Windows. I did not travel astatine it with immoderate preconceived conclusions. In fact, I wanted the acquisition to beryllium positive.
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I wanted to commencement utilizing Windows and acquisition each the reasons radical usage the OS for some concern and idiosyncratic use. Surely, Windows 11 was an efficient, zippy, user-friendly, and reliable operating system, right?
Turns out, it was nary of those things.
Remember, this is coming from a longtime Linux user who has been accustomed to an OS that tin beryllium and relation precisely however I privation it to. I'm utilized to being successful power of my desktop -- not having my desktop power me.
That's precisely however I felt portion utilizing Windows 11. I'd been moved retired of the driver's spot and relegated to the backmost spot with the children, arsenic the adults insisted we bash what they wanted, however they wanted, and erstwhile they wanted.
Let maine stock my acquisition with you. Hopefully, aft speechmaking this, you'll yet privation to ditch Windows for Linux.
1. Creating a section relationship was a symptom
Right retired of the gate, Windows 11 showed maine conscionable however achy it was going to be. I did not privation to usage a Windows account to log into the operating strategy (and wherefore would anyone willingly bash that?). So, I acceptable astir to make a section account.
Wow, what a symptom that was. In Linux, I tin make an relationship with the bid sudo adduser jack. Answer a fewer elemental questions (such arsenic afloat sanction and password), and that's it. I tin log retired of 1 relationship and log successful with the other.
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With Windows 11, I beauteous overmuch had to merchantability my soul, bash a backflip, committedness to kneel astatine the ft of Microsoft, and larn to fly. OK, that's what it felt like.
Your archetypal steps with an OS should not beryllium hair-pullingly frustrating.
2. Google Passkeys volition not enactment
Ah, Google and its passkeys. This is different constituent of contention due to the fact that they rolled retired a work that simply wasn't ready.
Now, I'm not definite if this is Google's oregon Microsoft's problem, but nary substance what I did, I could not motion successful to my Google account. Mind you, I could make a caller Linux virtual instrumentality and, wrong seconds, beryllium connected to my Google account. But with Windows, I had to alteration the "Hello" work earlier passkeys would work.
Even past (with my Google passkey virtually successful hand), Windows 11 wouldn't play along. Come on!
3. An email lawsuit that truly frustrated maine
I needed an email client, and I thought I'd effort 1 from the Microsoft App Store.
The email lawsuit successful question was Mailbird. Once I had Mailbird installed and an relationship added, the app decided it wanted maine to pony up for the paid mentation by mode of a pop-up. But this wasn't immoderate aged pop-up. This pop-up prevented maine from accessing different apps. I couldn't unfastened the process show to adjacent Mailbird, and I couldn't unfastened the terminal model to adjacent Mailbird. I was stuck.
The lone solution I recovered was to reboot and enactment arsenic rapidly arsenic I could to delete the app earlier Mailbird mysteriously opened (without my doing so) and took control. I yet succeeded, but it took maine respective tries.
With Linux, I could person utilized SSH to log successful to the desktop and uninstall Mailbird from the bid line.
4. Natural scrolling is truthful unnatural
The adjacent happening I had to bash was disable earthy scrolling. Whoever thought this was a bully thought should beryllium fired. Off to Settings I went. The diagnostic was reasonably elemental to find, and I switched it to my preferred scrolling direction.
That should person been the extremity of it, but no! For immoderate reason, I could not get Windows to grant the change. No substance what I did, Windows 11 insisted earthy scrolling was what I wanted. Au contraire, mon ami.
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The full clip I utilized Windows 11, my encephalon had to perpetually readjust itself and retrieve I was surviving successful Bizzaroworld.
5. Ads? Are you kidding me?
Seriously. I saw ads astatine the acold near of the Windows 11 panel. I besides spotted them successful the desktop menu. Why would anyone beryllium OK with this?
To debar that altogether, I installed the Seelen model manager truthful I didn't person to spot ads oregon look astatine that boring Windows 11 UI.
Ads... successful an OS. Sheesh.
6. Save As defaults to OneDrive? Why?
After astir an hr moving with Windows 11, I had to prevention a record and noticed that it instantly defaulted to OneDrive. I hadn't adjacent logged successful to my OneDrive relationship (because I ne'er usage it). This was precise frustrating for maine due to the fact that I bash not privation my enactment saved to a unreality relationship (for respective reasons, galore of which person to bash with AI).
I wanted to region OneDrive from the full acquisition but decided it wasn't worthy the effort for a weeklong experiment.
7. Windows 11 uses truthful galore resources
After I realized that the laptop I was utilizing ran truly blistery and the fans were perpetually kicking on, I did a spot of speedy investigating and recovered the msedgewebview2.exe process to beryllium the problem. This process is portion of the Microsoft Edge WebView2 Runtime, and it consumes sizeable resources. The brainsick happening is, I wasn't adjacent utilizing Edge. I installed Opera and utilized it exclusively.
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I'm definite there's a bully crushed wherefore msedgewebview2.exe was running, but to devour much resources than Opera with 10 oregon truthful tabs unfastened is crazy.
8. Virus and menace extortion
This is Windows, truthful I afloat recognize the request for protection. I cannot ideate utilizing this OS without a few levels of protection because, without it, it's conscionable a substance of clip earlier thing nefarious happens.
I decided to cheque successful connected it and found, to my shock, that Virus and Threat Protection was not enabled, nor was relationship extortion oregon app and browser control. From the looks of it, the archetypal 2 are cloud-based and Windows account-based. However, connected different leafage wrong Windows Security, some are listed arsenic On. What's the disconnect?
I would ne'er acquisition this connected Linux (nor would I request to). To beryllium honest, I expected to find retired that excessively galore extortion services were up and moving -- not the opposite.
9. Power and artillery options
I utilized a laptop to trial Windows 11. During my archetypal fewer hours, I noticed something: the laptop surface wasn't going achromatic oregon entering hibernation. Doesn't Windows 11 auto-detect if it's being utilized connected a laptop? Linux definite does. Had I not known to look for this, I could person been utilizing that laptop unplugged and tally retired of artillery prematurely.
Why is that the default?
Also: I'm a Linux powerfulness user, and this distro made maine rethink what an operating strategy tin be
On apical of each the supra issues, I ever felt arsenic if thing was going to clang connected maine and origin maine to suffer work, oregon that Windows would determine it needed to update and automatically reboot connected me. I ne'er erstwhile (during the full week) felt arsenic if I could unbend and conscionable usage the OS to bash my work. Not once.
This is my past time utilizing Windows 11
As soon arsenic I constitute this piece, I'm heading close backmost to my wooby -- Linux. I anticipation to ne'er person to beryllium connected Windows again due to the fact that if this acquisition has taught maine anything, it's that Linux is exponentially amended than Windows successful each conceivable way.
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