Step one: install Linux
this post was submitted on 30 Jul 2025
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I know how...
๐ง
Just switch to Linux.
This is like saying "put some salve on the wrists where the shackles are binding you". For fucks sake just walk away from the abusive computing relationship.
Many years ago, when I was repairing computers for a living, spyware like this was highly frowned upon.
I haven't touched Windows in a few years, but I'm still somewhat saddened to see how normalized this has become. Why did society stop valuing privacy?
Install Linux.
I came to this
You what
Got very excited
Please sit down for what I'm about to tell you. When a Linux user communicates with someone using Windows, the Linux user's sent data is still being harvested. ๐ข
Uh huh, so what you're saying is that the other user also must be assimilated, then.
Resistance is futile
Resistance is futile
Lately is not going that well for the borg, better 8472 ๐
I need Win11 for work. Specifically, Grasshopper. I've tried alternatives. They suck.
Thus, debloat methods are very welcome.
It's a shame that generic desktop apps don't have the same level of support that games do. That would be an enormous boost to Linux adoption.
https://github.com/ChrisTitusTech/winutil This just works. It will disable a lot of windows garbage including co pilot and recall. You can also remove all Microsoft installed bloatware programs but I don't recommend it on 11.
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I've used Shutup10 on my Windows partitions for years. Surprised I didn't see it mentioned here.
Good control over copilot and any other Wndows nastiness.
Run it after every Windows update. MS loves sneakily re-enabling some settings.
Why would anybody want this?
Watch as the Linux drones swarm in to drown out people seeking actual answers.
To be fair, removing the entire OS does disable this feature
And easier
man with gaping wound in his skull pissed that people keep suggesting he go to a hospital.
"Just like I told you, insufferable hospital maxxis, I swear!"
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My first thought seeing this headline was "who cares I'm using Linux anyway" ... My second thought was "Well I'm probably gonna start working in a mixed environment again soon and I'll be the one who'll have to disable Recall for the Users ... So good to know
I'm curious on what features does Windows have other other OSes. Just gaming? Music and video editing can be on MacOS. Linux can do everything else.
- Decades of anticompetitive monopolistic practices
- US government backdoors
- Spyware
- a price tag
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Very little gaming still requires Windows since the development of Proton. The main compatibility problems that remain seem to involve kernel-invasive anti-cheat systems.
Usability.
Windows and Mac are both easier to use for the standard user.
I'm a technical person and even I struggle with what/how the hell I'm supposed to even install applications on Linux:
Should I download the binaries? Should I use snap/flatpak/etc? If I do one vs the other which is more up to date? If I can't find it in the software store can I trust random online sites?
And that's just finding applications. Most people don't have hours of free time to read forums to understand how to fix something that broke (assuming the distro they choose even has a thread relating to the issue).
Windows and Mac are both easier to use for the standard user.
I really doubt that a standard user would have that much problems to do his work with the normal programs (an office suite, a browsere a little else) once Linux with a DE (let be KDE, GNOME or whatever) is installed.
The limitation is not the disto itself, it is the lack of support for some software (like Grasshooper or CAD)
It's possible that I underestimate the average user, but I did work IT at one point in my life and I still vividly recall needing to point out to someone that their computer wasn't turning on becuase it wasnt plugged in.
If we go down this road, I am old enough to remember people pinning 5 1/4 floppy disks to the cabinet using magnets and then being surprise it did not work anymore, or people that when asked to do a copy of the disk went to the copy machine.
But that was at the beginning (199x), now I would not consider "average user" someone who is not even able to realize that the pc is not plugged in, tbh.
My example was just to highlight that the "average user" may not be as technically capable as many in this thread propose. But that's also why I called out I may be underestimating the average user.
Windows is a marketing and spying platform. It is targeted by any and every scammer, hacker, used for harvesting your data by programs you install. It is sold as an "easy to use" computer - most ppl don't even know what an OS is - until 6 months later when the CPU is at 100% and you don't know why, the hard drive is filling up and you no longer know if your files are local or in "the cloud". I service older computers for friends and family on a regular basis. Half of them now have Ubuntu installed on old laptops and it's an eye opener for them. Because most people don't install new apps. They just want to browse, read emails, open documents, watch movies and listen to music. If you avoid snap and flatpak and install with APT or just download an AppImage you're going to be ok.
Wait, this seems completely backwards.
Windows: Here is some forum post to some rando's software. SomeShit.exe. Should I install it?
As opposed to Linux: I look in the category of the software I am interested in, click install.
And as far as breaking... I use linux because it doesn't break. I don't have time for windows bullshit.
I feel like clearly everyone here is smarter than me or something.
I've been running Kubuntu for a while and here is a recent anecdote and you can tell me if I'm just an idiot. I went to install an application so opened up the software store. After installing I found out it was an out of date version of the software. I went to the companies site and they recommended a flatpak install. Kubuntu doesn't have flatpak enabled by default, so I have to lookup how to install flatpak and could then install the flatpak. However another piece of software recommends using the apt install, and another the Kubuntu store is fine. All of this is okay, but now there are three different ways I have to manage my software.
Its fine for me, but if that's really the case, you'll loose the average user at using the command line to install flatpak.
average user at using the command line to install flatpak.
Kubuntu require you to use a command line to get flatpaks? Usually it is just a toggle in a package manager. I think Fedora is on by default.
I just looked it up again and it seems like they require you run a command in the console to enable flatpak. I'm not sure if it's cause they use snaps, given it's an Ubuntu derivative. I suspect as flatpak continues to win out it'll all tend that way.
However, the fact this its even a discussion is kinda my point.
So I wanted to see for myself.
Ubuntu... ugg the worst of all distros. I had issues with it since it came out. I never got why it took off. Although I did like their fonts, colors, and Unity. (Even as a KDE person).
So my experience: download Kubuntu. Install. Click update. It of course throws an error. I ignore it and click update again. This time it succeeds but it seemed like forever. Why is that? I can't stress this enough: Nearly everytime I have tried to work with Ubuntu the very first thing it does is throw an error. Never a good look.
Anyways: Click on software center. Go to settings. Click enable Flatpack. Click on Flatpack add Flathub as a repository. (That step is a little confusing actually, but it is there). Search for Strawberry music player: it offers to add it from Flatpak.
No command line ever used.
The confusion sometimes comes from looking up info, which will lead to the command line. Becuase command line is always the easiest way to share information. Same thing with windows, when I go to fix stuff, they offer powershell. A dozen gui steps and pictures reduced to a single line.
Wow! I appreciate your thoroughness.
After hearing you found it in a setting I went looking around again, and while I couldn't find any official Kubuntu documentation, it does seem like Flathub has a setup guide that mentions it as a setting config.
Also, I generally lean towards Ubuntu as most support I find online leans Debian, but curious what distro you use.
In the past: Redhat, then Mostly Debian or Debian derivatives. Mepis was great for the time it was a thing (2003 - 2005). Also Gentoo for awhile.
Nowdays: Arch and Fedora mostly. I put Fedora on a laptop a couple of years ago while trying to see what would work with it and I have been extremely surprised by it. Packages are really up to date, I have gone through a major revision upgrade with no problem at all. Arch is great, but you have to pay attention and deal with change. Fedora is just as up to date but I don't have to manage the changes.
And Fedora recently added KDE as an official release instead of a "spin" which is all the better. I hope they keep going, I read that they are not a big team and one of them just left.
Thanks for the info.
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