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Being a profit seeking corporation and wanting to increase their revenue, they often mimic procedures and functions that others use successfully to their own benefit.
On the surface OneDrive seems like a free, automated cloud syncing app to make it easy to non-tech savvy users to be able to backup their data so they can easily transfer it or not have to worry about losing it.
But much like the Apple's iCloud MS got the idea from, they automatically include all the core user folders which if OneDrive is not reconfigured to be more selective or the synch folders were not maintained where unnecessary or temp files were frequently deleted, the space given in the initial "free" version of OneDrive very quickly fills up panicking and pushing people to cough up additional funds monthly which is exactly what Apple does with their iCloud used on iPhones of the non-tech savvy folk.
Instead of having certain functions, features and apps ON by default, during the initial set up, the users should be given the choice with clear and brief explanation of the said feature/function so they can decide themselves.
This is not something Microsoft ever does much like their OS updates that out of the blue changes the way programs or system look and function and the worst part, not report or info and what those changes were.
You will have to wait for tech savvy people to notice and figure out the changes which are often weird or annoying, and also come up with info and instructions on how to disable or get rid of it.
This 3 step forward, 2 subtle steps back crap is what annoys most Windows users. I am not a fan of it but after 25+ years of this crap, I am neither surprised nor do I get riled up. Figure it out, sort it out, maybe use one or two profane words and move on...
To OP; Is Windows 11 bad? No. Is it better than Windows 10? That, imho, is also a no.
Correct! I did not give any indication that OneDrive is mandatory. Again, there is no opt-out option to not install OneDrive. It will get installed. Then the user has to figure it out from there, possibly requiring a tech savvy person (like what happened to the OP) to get rid of it.
Do not upgrade if your PC is working until you have to. Why would you? Unless it's a company computer that must have current updates, do not update a working computer.
Remember when MS was trying to get win7 to update to 10 without informing users? They are doing that from 10 to 11 as well. That alone proves you can't trust MS. I don't think they see you as a customer any more?
When 10 came out trying to update win7 to 10, I advised my neighbor to stay on win7 when win10 came out, even though it was 'free'. We deleted the update patches.
Win10 had a lot of user reported bugs and issues when it came out, so I said keep using your win7 that has no issues! His win7 PC was working flawlessly yet he had thought he needed 10 to keep his PC safe. And 10 was free! Better update while you can?!
He is still on win7 today and his win7 PC still works great. Did have to do chkdsk once. In fact, his PC is the best functioning PC I've ever seen. He is also a PC user that does very little except email and some browsing. He never installs an app or anything else. He can stay on win7 for the next 10 years, or as long as his PC hardware still works.
Even when his browser stops working in win7, I will first recommend trying some alternative browsers that might work on news sites. Which is all he will care about, checking the news. If we can't get news to come up in any browser out there he will have to decide to upgrade from a perfectly functioning win7 PC (except the browser) to what will likely be w11.
Despite all my criticism for MS, they don't have complete control of everything on the system but more importantly, OneDrive, as mentioned by others, is NOT mandatory and can be disabled or even removed.
This has been discusses here quite a few times with details.
MS' Windows upgrade nag can also be disabled by merely turning off a related option in the Settings > System > Notifications section (see screenshot)
If for some reason it is not working or you want to make sure Windows will not upgrade, then a more reassuring method would be to use GRC's InControl freebie which was also mentioned here once or twice.
Win11 can be made into Win10. Its not so bad. Dont want 1 drive ? Disable it at start up, uninstall it
That "startup" addition to task Manager is one of the best things they have come up with in quite some time.
It was in Win10.. I don't recall if it was in 8 or not, but.. Yeah. That's the best thing they've put into any recent version of windows in my eyes.
You could still do it in older versions.. What was it? msconfig?
But.. It's so much simpler having it right there in the task manager.
that being said. I hate the new task manager layout. I hate the reliance on icons.
And.. Once again, something that is not Win11 specific here, but if I ever get my hands on the asshat who had the bright idea on the "Send To" submenu, to put "Compressed File" RIGHT ABOVE "Desktop (create shortcut)"
The number of times I've gone to ZIP 40 files, slip up and ****! Now I have 40 damned shortcuts on my desktop!
Win11.. Does have quite a bit of bloatware that it puts on by default. all easy enough to remove, but.. Yeah.. Their Netflix app and some others shouldn't be installed by default with Windows.. Not POSITIVE that netflix is.. Think so, but.. There's other examples. Use your favorite.
First thing I did with Win11 when I had to test it out was.. "Ok.. How do I get my start button left aligned again?"
Getting to some of the old school tools, which.. Still work better (or.. I'm just old) is getting difficult.
Joining a domain.. The old System Properties screen.. One of the first things I do is go under Performance and set it for best performance, which turns off many of the animations for taskbar and the like.
The old Devices and Printers.. I still prefer working on printers from that.
What are your favorite aspects of Windows 11 to neutralize, make them stop, remove?
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