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ZDNET key takeaways
- Jack Wallen spends per week utilizing Home windows 11.
- Throughout this experiment, he skilled a complete gamut of points.
- In the long run, it made him respect Linux all of the extra.
“Why do folks willingly use Home windows?” Lower than one hour into my experiment, this query got here to thoughts, and over the subsequent seven days, I used to be unable to reach at a solution.
Hey, my title is Jack Wallen, and I am a glutton for punishment. For no matter purpose, per week in the past right now, I made a decision to change my default working system from Linux to Home windows. I didn’t come at it with any preconceived conclusions. In actual fact, I wished the expertise to be optimistic. I wished to begin utilizing Home windows and expertise all the explanations folks use the OS for each enterprise and private use. Certainly, Home windows 11 was an environment friendly, zippy, user-friendly, and dependable working system, proper?
Seems, it was none of these issues.
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Keep in mind, that is coming from a longtime Linux user who has been accustomed to utilizing an OS that’s able to being and functioning precisely how I need it to. I am used to being in command of my desktop — not having my desktop be in command of me.
That is precisely how I felt whereas utilizing Windows 11. I would been moved out of the motive force’s seat and relegated with the youngsters within the again seat, because the adults insisted we do what they need, how they need, and when they need.
Let me share with you my expertise. Hopefully, after studying this, you will lastly wish to ditch Windows for Linux.
1. Creating a neighborhood account was a ache
Proper out of the gate, Home windows 11 confirmed me simply how painful it was going to be. I didn’t wish to use a Windows account to log into the working system (and why would anybody willingly do this?). So, I set about to create a neighborhood account.
Wow, what a ache that was. In Linux, I can create an account with the command sudo adduser jack. Reply just a few easy questions (reminiscent of full title and password), and that is it. I can log off of 1 account and log in with the opposite.
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With Home windows 11, I just about needed to promote my soul, do a backflip, promise to kneel on the foot of Microsoft, and study to fly. OK, that is what it felt like.
Your first steps with an OS shouldn’t be hair-pullingly irritating.
2. Google Passkeys won’t work
Ah, Google and its passkeys. That is one other level of competition as a result of they rolled out a service that merely wasn’t prepared.
Additionally: How passkeys work: The complete guide to your inevitable passwordless future
Now, I am unsure if that is Google’s or Microsoft’s drawback, however it doesn’t matter what I did, I couldn’t check in to my Google account. Thoughts you, I might create a brand new Linux digital machine and, inside seconds, be related to my Google account. However with Home windows, I needed to allow the “Hey” service earlier than passkeys would work.
Even then (with my Google passkey actually in hand), Home windows 11 would not play alongside. Come on!
3. An electronic mail shopper that basically annoyed me
I wanted an email client, and I assumed I would attempt one from the Microsoft App Retailer.
The e-mail shopper in query was Mailbird. As soon as I had Mailbird put in and an account added, the app determined it wished me to pony up for the paid model by the use of a pop-up. However this wasn’t any outdated pop-up. This pop-up prevented me from accessing different apps. I could not open the method monitor to shut Mailbird, and I could not open the terminal window to shut Mailbird. I used to be caught.
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The one answer I discovered was to reboot and work as rapidly as I might to delete the app earlier than Mailbird mysteriously opened (with out my doing so) and took management. I ultimately succeeded, however it took me a number of tries.
With Linux, I might have used SSH to log in to the desktop and uninstall Mailbird from the command line.
4. Pure scrolling is so unnatural
The following factor I needed to do was disable pure scrolling. Whoever thought this was a good suggestion ought to be fired. Off to Settings I went. The function was pretty easy to seek out, and I switched it to my most popular scrolling path.
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That ought to have been the top of it, however no! For no matter purpose, I couldn’t get Home windows to honor the change. It doesn’t matter what I did, Home windows 11 insisted pure scrolling was what I wished. Au contraire, mon ami.
Your entire time I used Home windows 11, my mind needed to consistently readjust itself and keep in mind I used to be dwelling in Bizzaroworld.
5. Adverts? Are you kidding me?
Significantly. I noticed advertisements within the far-left finish of the Home windows 11 panel. I additionally noticed them within the desktop menu. Why would anybody be OK with this?
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To keep away from that altogether, I put in the Seelen window supervisor so I did not need to see advertisements, nor did I’ve to have a look at that boring Home windows 11 UI.
Adverts… in an OS. Sheesh.
6. Save As defaults to OneDrive? Why?
After about an hour working with Home windows 11, I needed to save a file and seen that it instantly defaulted to OneDrive. I hadn’t even logged in to my OneDrive account (as a result of I by no means use it). This was very irritating for me as a result of I don’t need my work saved to a cloud account (for a number of causes, lots of which need to do with AI).
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I wished to take away OneDrive from your entire expertise however determined it wasn’t well worth the effort for a weeklong experiment.
7. Home windows 11 makes use of so many sources
After I spotted that the laptop computer I used to be utilizing ran actually sizzling and the followers had been consistently kicking on, I did a little bit of fast investigating and located the msedgewebview2.exe course of to be the issue. This course of is a part of the Microsoft Edge WebView2 Runtime, and it consumes appreciable sources. The loopy factor is, I wasn’t even utilizing Edge. I put in Opera and used it solely.
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I am certain there is a good purpose why msedgewebview2.exe was working, however to devour extra sources than Opera with ten or so tabs open is loopy.
8. Virus and menace safety
That is Home windows, so I absolutely perceive the necessity for cover. I can’t think about utilizing this OS and not using a few levels of protection as a result of, with out it, it is only a matter of time earlier than one thing nefarious occurs.
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I made a decision to verify in on it and located, to my shock, that Virus and Risk Safety was not enabled, nor was account safety or app and browser management. From the seems to be of it, the primary two are cloud-based and Home windows account-based. Nevertheless, on one other web page inside Home windows Safety, each are listed as On. What is the disconnect?
I might by no means expertise this on Linux (nor would I must). To be trustworthy, I anticipated to seek out out that too many safety companies had been up and working — not the other.
9. Energy and battery choices
I used a laptop computer to check Home windows 11. Throughout my first few hours, I seen one thing: the laptop computer display wasn’t going black, nor was it going into hibernation. Would not Home windows 11 auto-detect if it is getting used on a laptop computer? Linux certain does. Had I not identified to search for this, I might have been utilizing that laptop computer unplugged and prematurely run out of battery.
Why is that the default?
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On high of all of the above points, I at all times felt as if one thing was going to crash on me and trigger me to lose work, or that Home windows would determine it wanted to replace and routinely reboot on me. I by no means as soon as (throughout your entire week) felt as if I might calm down and simply use the OS to do my work. Not as soon as.
That is my final day utilizing Home windows 11
As quickly as I write this piece, I am heading proper again to my wooby — Linux. I hope to by no means need to depend upon Home windows once more as a result of if this expertise has taught me something, it is that Linux is exponentially higher than Home windows in each conceivable approach.
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