I think I might able to get along with this. Today's fresh install (with an unmodded ISO and no autounattend.xml) only took 32 minutes, compared to 80 minutes the other day with 24H2. I imagine a large part of the difference must have had to do with how many intermediate updates needed to be install.
Of course I did still deny whatever telemetry and data harvesting that I could, and ran WinUtil from Christ Titus and OO Shut Up, but it's still disappointing that even a trimmed Windows 11 still needs two, three, or four times the RAM as Linux with a full desktop environment (XFCE at the lighter end, KDE Plasma at the heavier end).
Plus, Win 11 seems so laggy by comparison with Linux: when it comes to booting, going from login to desktop and ready to go, and when it comes to updates.
However, my reason for even still bothering with Windows in October of 2025 is that I have paid for a lot of Windows apps and plugins in the music-making and digital-painting domains (not that I really ever do anything with those hobbies), and some of those either take more time to work or won't work at all even when using a compatibility layer in Linux.
Fast-forward to a few years from now:
If I were a droid
I wouldn't care what they say
I'd spring out of bed and flex my chassis any old way
And be paralyzed
By some overchoice
Regarding which of many distros I should think of loading just for today.
@Arkturos saidDespite being primarily a Mac dev theses days, there is one app I really like over all alternatives on Windows - as a result, I use Parallels/Win 11 on the same machine. It is also super useful for rapidly testing native Windows browser versions too - but right now, that is a lot of Windows baggage for one app. I'm sure decent alternatives exists, but they take time to evaluate.
However, my reason for even still bothering with Windows in October of 2025 is that I have paid for a lot of Windows apps and plugins in the music-making and digital-painting domains (not that I really ever do anything with those hobbies), and some of those either take more time to work or won't work at all even when using a compatibility layer in Linux.
Windows 11 Version 24H2 is installing now, which is why your post caught my interest. I'm sure "Generative AI: Microsoft Paint includes a new "Generative Erase" feature for image editing." will change my life. 🙂
Over here I have a 4TB mechanical (spinny) drive in a tower case, and Windows 11 is just so much noisier (frequent disk writing) than Linux distros on the same hardware, even after disabling search indexing and what used to be called SuperFetch. Therefore, after six or seven Win 11 installations in the past couple of weeks, I'm back on Linux again -- possibly for the duration.
Sure, upgrading to an SSD would be the obvious thing to do re: the chronic disk-writing noise, but I bought that drive just a couple of years ago and feel it's too early to retire it -- plus, my budget is kind of tight this year.
On the positive side, Windows 11 looks better to my eyes than Windows 10, and I haven't felt the need to use any shell enhancers such as the ones from Stardock, or OneCommander as a replacement for the file explorer. It seems Microsoft has borrowed some design ideas from some of the Linux desktop environments and window managers.
@Russ saidI don't remember that, but I do remember a fairly recent report that Satya Nadella said something like Windows was just a portal for selling Microsoft's services.
@Arkturos
Never forget, Microsoft once said that Windows 10 would be the "last version of Windows". That aged well.
On a near-future tangent, I hope Musk and Neuralink don't get into the "headware" business.