Windows 11 Is a Vehicle for Upselling and Advertising ⇥ thomasbandt.com

Thomas Bandt set up Windows 11 on a computer for his kid to use:

First, there was news about a mass shooting that had occurred only recently. In the middle of the search menu. The menu which was supposed to be one of the first touch points with that computer for the kid. Not okay. But after some time, I figured out how to switch that off.

[…]

So, there is basically little you can do with Windows out of the box but buy subscriptions and log into pre-installed social media apps. One thing I knew right on the spot: That’s not an environment I want my kid to make his first steps “on a real computer.” Not in a hundred years. Never.

Via Matt Birchler:

Oh, and to be clear, this isn’t some OEM addition, this is core Windows… you can’t escape this with a Surface device: this is the Windows experience as Microsoft sees it.

I am thankful I use a Windows 11 computer at my day job because it puts things into perspective. Apple’s operating systems are also full of ads for its services but it is somewhat less intrusive than what I experience on my office desktop. Neither is good for users, however. The more computer companies see their operating systems as vehicles for converting users to subscription-paying advertising-clicking customers, the more it feels like we are being taken advantage of.