3 ms·

Some things that any semi-power user will notice and get angry at: * Needing internet and a microsoft account to install the OS * Start menu now requiring two

by koyote 1y ago

Some things that any semi-power user will notice and get angry at: * Needing internet and a microsoft account to install the OS * Start menu now requiring two clicks to get to programs list * Right-click requiring two clicks to get to the options you most likely want to use (e.g. 7z unzip or opening in a specific program) * Task manager being slow and laggy * Random ads asking you to install a game pop up in the notification area * ... And then there's little bugs everywhere that just grind away at you on a daily basis: * A tab in explorer will sometimes randomly stop accepting clicks (keyboard select works). So I have to close the tab and re-open * The keyboard layout setting gets corrupted and there's no proper way to reset it (nevermind the fact tha this setting is now burried twenty levels deep in the new settings app) * The settings app search does not work * ... It is by far the worst Windows version (beating Vista and ME to that title) in my opinion. I use linux as my daily but am forced to use Windows at work and they have of course been forced to upgrade us to Windows 11...

3eb7988a1663 1y ago
Right-click requiring two clicks to get to the options you most likely want to use (e.g. 7z unzip or opening in a specific program) This one you can still change. It is some hidden registry tweak, but there is the capacity to always "show more options".
- thepill 1y ago
  Or hold [Shift] while right clicking
  - Orygin 1y ago
    Microsoft's own "you're holding it wrong moment": "You're right clicking wrong"
- array_key_first 1y ago
  Changing the registry is far too much of a hurdle.
  - 3eb7988a1663 1y ago
    Guess that depends on how much it angers you. Within minutes of seeing that, I jumped to the web to find a workaround, because that was way too annoying to accept.
    - array_key_first 1y ago
      That solution doesn't work in window's last remaining relevant market: enterprise. I run regedit on a work computer, and work is the only place I am forced to put up with Windows.
erentz 1y ago
> And then there's little bugs everywhere that just grind away at you on a daily basis: When I create a new folder or file in a directory in explorer it hangs for a bit and doesn’t show up unless I click refresh. Ditto if I save a file to a directory that is open in explorer. Thinking about trying to get a copy of Win 10 IoT LTSC instead at this point.
- jpk2f2 1y ago
  You don't need IoT, just the normal LTSC (2027, and then security updates until 2032, iirc). And there are easy ways to swap to it, present on GitHub... Main downside is other applications dropping support for 10, if relevant. I only swapped my main system due to Fusion 360 notifying me they were dropping 10 in January 2026.
- pgreenwood 1y ago
  The Win 10 IoT LTSC iso is on archive.org (from microsoft)
  - keyringlight 1y ago
    I'd love to know how many people are verifying checksums, and sourcing the checksums themselves from reputable sources. An event like this seems like a prime opportunity for someone to insert something extra into one of the components needed and a proportion of users will pick it up, whether the security cure is worse than the disease of an unsupported OS. Just as an example of this everyone points out Massgrave for activation on a version of windows I doubt many are properly licensed for, and one of the methods used relies on periodically talking to KMS servers they provide including some on a Chinese TLD [0]. Personally I'd be charitable and say it's probably well intentioned using the cheap resources they can get (there's no mention of donations on the site), but I wonder how many are aware of what is involved and this is just something they rush through to get rid of the big scary warning that windows puts up and tech news hysteria. [0] https://github.com/massgravel/Microsoft-Activation-Scripts/blob/master/MAS/Separate-Files-Version/Activators/Online_KMS_Activation.cmd#L2223 https://github.com/massgravel/Microsoft-Activation-Scripts/b...
- 1y ago
jpk2f2 1y ago
I largely agree with your points, but in this context - * A microsoft account is only needed for Windows 11 Home. A "semi-power user" is hopefully not using that edition of Windows... * I'm also greatly annoyed by the right click - but holding shift when right-clicking opens the expected menu, removing the extra click requirement. Some of my own annoyances though: * The taskbar/windows button seems to just...crash...sometimes. It'll eventually restart, but extremely annoying. Left clicking taskbar icons still works, but right clicks or the start button don't work as expected. * Additional clicks to change audio devices...drives me crazy on my main system. * I like the autosaving aspect of notepad, but they've killed the main reason I used it - an instantaneous, lightweight text app. It's still quick, but is noticeably slower. * Settings and Control Panel is still a mess, and even less usable than Windows 10 was.
- buccal 1y ago
  > * A microsoft account is only needed for Windows 11 Home. A "semi-power user" is hopefully not using that edition of Windows... Both Home and Pro require Microsoft account to install and start using. Then you can create local only users in both editions and delete user joined to Microsoft account. This is standard operation even in OEM installs.
  - whyoh 1y ago
    Neither Home nor Pro really require a MS account. You can skip that during setup (for example with "bypassNRO"). This might change in the future, but as of 25H2 the workarounds still work.
    - jpk2f2 1y ago
      bypassnro no longer works for Windows 11 Home, unfortunately. If you're using an ISO built prior to the change (a few weeks ago?), you'll be fine.
      - whyoh 1y ago
        This is the ISO I used, which, according to the MS website[1], is still the latest right now: Win11_25H2_English_x64.iso (SHA256: D141F6030FED50F75E2B03E1EB2E53646C4B21E5386047CB860AF5223F102A32) I installed it offline in a VM, Home edition, US region. Shift+F10, oobe\bypassnro worked (with a warning/error at some step, but the local account was created fine). I read somewhere that it doesn't work if you connect to the internet during setup (which is always a bad idea IMO). [1] https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows11 https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows11
silisili 1y ago
Oh goodness yes. I was forced from Linux to W11 Pro for my new job. Use wsl2 they said, it'll be fine. And wsl2 is mostly fine. But that doesn't stop the rest of the OS from being a dumpster fire. Why is it asking me to install or play Xbox games constantly? It feels like I have malware...
- mschuster91 1y ago
  > Why is it asking me to install or play Xbox games constantly? Because Microsoft got too large and some manager of Xbox pressured the Windows team to allow such notification to boost up their KPIs (games installed, game hours played). Telemetry and KPIs are the single worst combination of bullshit that has happened to the entire IT industry.
- aaronmdjones 1y ago
  It feels like I have malware... You do; it's called Windows. I jumped ship over a decade ago and have been using Linux Mint as my daily driver; there hasn't been one day I've regretted it. Seeing the recent news about the constant full-screen Windows Backup/OneDrive popovers and needing a Microsoft Account just to install the OS (they recently killed the OOBE workaround) is just the stale icing on this dumpster fire of a cake. Don't even get me started on all the AI crap in Edge.

by koyote 1y ago

3eb7988a1663 1y ago

Right-click requiring two clicks to get to the options you most likely want to use (e.g. 7z unzip or opening in a specific program) This one you can still change. It is some hidden registry tweak, but there is the capacity to always "show more options".

thepill 1y ago
Or hold [Shift] while right clicking
- Orygin 1y ago
  Microsoft's own "you're holding it wrong moment": "You're right clicking wrong"
array_key_first 1y ago
Changing the registry is far too much of a hurdle.
- 3eb7988a1663 1y ago
  Guess that depends on how much it angers you. Within minutes of seeing that, I jumped to the web to find a workaround, because that was way too annoying to accept.
  - array_key_first 1y ago
    That solution doesn't work in window's last remaining relevant market: enterprise. I run regedit on a work computer, and work is the only place I am forced to put up with Windows.

erentz 1y ago

> And then there's little bugs everywhere that just grind away at you on a daily basis: When I create a new folder or file in a directory in explorer it hangs for a bit and doesn’t show up unless I click refresh. Ditto if I save a file to a directory that is open in explorer. Thinking about trying to get a copy of Win 10 IoT LTSC instead at this point.

jpk2f2 1y ago
You don't need IoT, just the normal LTSC (2027, and then security updates until 2032, iirc). And there are easy ways to swap to it, present on GitHub... Main downside is other applications dropping support for 10, if relevant. I only swapped my main system due to Fusion 360 notifying me they were dropping 10 in January 2026.
pgreenwood 1y ago
The Win 10 IoT LTSC iso is on archive.org (from microsoft)
- keyringlight 1y ago
  I'd love to know how many people are verifying checksums, and sourcing the checksums themselves from reputable sources. An event like this seems like a prime opportunity for someone to insert something extra into one of the components needed and a proportion of users will pick it up, whether the security cure is worse than the disease of an unsupported OS. Just as an example of this everyone points out Massgrave for activation on a version of windows I doubt many are properly licensed for, and one of the methods used relies on periodically talking to KMS servers they provide including some on a Chinese TLD [0]. Personally I'd be charitable and say it's probably well intentioned using the cheap resources they can get (there's no mention of donations on the site), but I wonder how many are aware of what is involved and this is just something they rush through to get rid of the big scary warning that windows puts up and tech news hysteria. [0] https://github.com/massgravel/Microsoft-Activation-Scripts/blob/master/MAS/Separate-Files-Version/Activators/Online_KMS_Activation.cmd#L2223 https://github.com/massgravel/Microsoft-Activation-Scripts/b...
1y ago

jpk2f2 1y ago

I largely agree with your points, but in this context - * A microsoft account is only needed for Windows 11 Home. A "semi-power user" is hopefully not using that edition of Windows... * I'm also greatly annoyed by the right click - but holding shift when right-clicking opens the expected menu, removing the extra click requirement. Some of my own annoyances though: * The taskbar/windows button seems to just...crash...sometimes. It'll eventually restart, but extremely annoying. Left clicking taskbar icons still works, but right clicks or the start button don't work as expected. * Additional clicks to change audio devices...drives me crazy on my main system. * I like the autosaving aspect of notepad, but they've killed the main reason I used it - an instantaneous, lightweight text app. It's still quick, but is noticeably slower. * Settings and Control Panel is still a mess, and even less usable than Windows 10 was.

buccal 1y ago
> * A microsoft account is only needed for Windows 11 Home. A "semi-power user" is hopefully not using that edition of Windows... Both Home and Pro require Microsoft account to install and start using. Then you can create local only users in both editions and delete user joined to Microsoft account. This is standard operation even in OEM installs.
- whyoh 1y ago
  Neither Home nor Pro really require a MS account. You can skip that during setup (for example with "bypassNRO"). This might change in the future, but as of 25H2 the workarounds still work.
  - jpk2f2 1y ago
    bypassnro no longer works for Windows 11 Home, unfortunately. If you're using an ISO built prior to the change (a few weeks ago?), you'll be fine.
    - whyoh 1y ago
      This is the ISO I used, which, according to the MS website[1], is still the latest right now: Win11_25H2_English_x64.iso (SHA256: D141F6030FED50F75E2B03E1EB2E53646C4B21E5386047CB860AF5223F102A32) I installed it offline in a VM, Home edition, US region. Shift+F10, oobe\bypassnro worked (with a warning/error at some step, but the local account was created fine). I read somewhere that it doesn't work if you connect to the internet during setup (which is always a bad idea IMO). [1] https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows11 https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows11

silisili 1y ago

Oh goodness yes. I was forced from Linux to W11 Pro for my new job. Use wsl2 they said, it'll be fine. And wsl2 is mostly fine. But that doesn't stop the rest of the OS from being a dumpster fire. Why is it asking me to install or play Xbox games constantly? It feels like I have malware...

mschuster91 1y ago
> Why is it asking me to install or play Xbox games constantly? Because Microsoft got too large and some manager of Xbox pressured the Windows team to allow such notification to boost up their KPIs (games installed, game hours played). Telemetry and KPIs are the single worst combination of bullshit that has happened to the entire IT industry.
aaronmdjones 1y ago
It feels like I have malware... You do; it's called Windows. I jumped ship over a decade ago and have been using Linux Mint as my daily driver; there hasn't been one day I've regretted it. Seeing the recent news about the constant full-screen Windows Backup/OneDrive popovers and needing a Microsoft Account just to install the OS (they recently killed the OOBE workaround) is just the stale icing on this dumpster fire of a cake. Don't even get me started on all the AI crap in Edge.