PC Master Race

Windows 11 feels awful to use. My home laptop whirrs like crazy because it feels the need to download updates so often. There's a bunch of creepy processes/tasks running all the time. I tried to disable as many as I could, but some they prevent users from deleting. You don't want your laptop to run the "UsageAndQualityInsights" task every day? Well TOO BAD!

Windows 11 forces updates whenever it can. If I close the lid on my laptop, which should put it in a light sleep, I will sometimes open it up to it being restarted, so all my previously open programs being closed, because I guess they wanted to forcefully make me get their latest updates, potential unsaved work be damned. They don't care at all what you want, just "too bad, we know what's best for you."

There are so many basic bugs that I'm surprised exist. I have to use ExplorerPatcher to get some sense of normalcy back. The UI in some ways is so frustrating. Every time I want to use the calendar, it shows a giant empty blob for "notifications", even though I disable all notifications... why still show me this waste of space? I just want a calendar when I click the date...

I was shocked to find out that the inability to drag files onto applications in order to do basic drag-and-drop functionality is not a thing anymore. Why?! (I think ExplorerPatcher fixes this on my home laptop, but on my work laptop which also uses Windows 11 I am baffled by this every time I forget and try to drag a file onto a taskbar icon.)

It sucks having to constantly look up various tips, tricks, and hacks to make the operating system slightly bearable in all these little ways. "Here's how you can disable OneDrive which apparently had a habit of removing people's files whoopsie, here's how you can disable Copilot which had a super helpful feature where it literally just snapshots pictures of your screen all the time haha how helpful and totally not creepy, here's how you can bring back the normal right-click menu." But it only can do so much, and it's exhausting.

I feel like it's not "my computer," it feels like the most "Big Brother" operating system ever; it always feels like "something" is watching me or lurking in the background reporting back to some giant Microsoft data center on what I'm doing, what my files are, etc. It's just this really creepy feeling. I feel "gross" when I use it.

I wish I could have Windows 10, but I know that's basically not an option anymore. I want to switch to Linux, but I'm not techy enough and worried I'll fail at switching over. I am slowly working up the courage to try to install Linux Mint, as that sounds like the most beginner-coming-from-Windows-friendly distro of Linux.

and Microsoft just can't push holdouts to Windows 11

BECAUSE IT REQUIRES NEW HARDWARE!

AI made that impossibly out of reach for too many people.

I understand why tpm chips are a good idea but you can't just say "fuck you, fork out cash and cut over".

Look at the move to digital broadcast television.

The percentages are way different (way more people are using legacy PC's than had legacy tv sets) but they sold adapters for the tv folks.

They did the opposite and pulled the rugs out from under any "proceed anyway" options that were present for putting 11 on incompatible harfware.

because win11 is a miserable experience. the other week I decided to install it on one of my thinkpads cause I just wanted to "see how it is now" after being on linux for the past couple years. the whole process sucked. it was slow to install, they blitz you with emails as soon as you set up an account and login, and the updates either broke or took forever and ONE of the updates insisted on updating the bios on the thinkpad and totally borked it to the point I immediately uninstalled windows and had to reflash the bios cause Windows decided that my media keys were no longer necessary.

why would the average user want to experience any of that?

No longer about providing a useful product to the end user. All about extracting personal and behavioural information while enshittifying the tech and "making deals" with hardware tech bros.

Yep my 10 year old laptop still chugging along on win10 my new one has Linux.

... I think they need to call it. 11 is dead.

I remember when they made the claim that windows 10 was the last windows you will use, and hey look they got that one right.

I daily drive Windows 11 for work. I'm so glad I upgraded by personal system to Linux.

"Win10 refuses to die"

Why would it need to?

Because you need new hardware for it. So you’d have to spend a shitload of money for an objectively worse experience. Why oh why are people not upgrading? Fucking mystery for the ages.

They went out of their way to ruin workflow and customer experience with win 11, then they stuffed it full of malware and spyware. There is a reason no one wants it.

I had an i7-7700, which somehow fell into a weird gap where win11 just wasn’t supported.

Held onto win10 for a while with it before upgrading in like October 2025. At that point I’d watched m$ blow it over and over, including the fiasco that is Recall in win11, not to mention all to copilot shit.

District hopped a little before landing on cachyos for now, which has been pretty great, and haven’t looked back.

Of all the big corpus, m$ is the one that pisses me off the most.

Skip the evens. It's always held true.