Basically, install Windows as you normally would, but when asked for Time and Currency format, select English (World) instead of your country.

Then let the installer do its thing. Eventually, you will see a window with an ice cream cone on the floor with the words “Something went wrong” and the error message “OOBEREGION.” This cryptic message means that the “out of box experience” (OOBE) didn’t launch because it didn’t know which region to launch.

Click Skip, though, and Windows will install just fine. You won’t be prompted to buy Microsoft 365, you won’t be prompted to pay for a OneDrive subscription, and your Start menu won’t be cluttered with apps.

66 points

According to the article, “The only downside is that the Windows Store appears not to work out of the box.”

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160 points

“The only downside is that the Windows Store appears not to work out of the box.”

This is a feature, not a bug.

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22 points

Can be a major deal breaker though for anyone using GamePass.

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30 points
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If you’re gonna buy into the Microsoft ecosystem with a subscription service and a Microsoft Account, you’ll be stuck with their trash. Should maybe consider what else might “break Gamepass” in the future (purely by accident of course).

Like how if you don’t want OneDrive, whoops, now your Office documents can’t autosave. Better put OneDrive back like a good consumer and here’s some ads about increasing storage, you’re welcome.

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3 points

Also Windows MR, potentially.

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4 points

And WSL.

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5 points

I’m of the opinion that MS will eventually get this right, but it won’t be called Windows 11 by the time it does. The redesign, efforts into command-line and WSL, they are moving in a positive direction, but the ads, bloat, spyware, needs to go. If they can release Win12 or whatever its called with the simplicity of Win11, have the features of Win10 (and finally put a nail in the old interfaces from XP and before), they could have another solid performer like Windows 7.

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10 points
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Win12 gonna spy even harder tho

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9 points

Win12 isn’t gonna run locally. OS as a service.

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18 points
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they are moving in a positive direction, but the ads, bloat, spyware, needs to go

They’re going nowhere. It’s making money, Microsoft is using that income to offset development cost instead of just selling the OS at a flat reasonable rate. It’s part of the Windows business model now.

Windows is entrenched, they own most of the business world, they will never face serious kickback for their design decisions. Not at this point. Not until Gen Z gets old enough and numerous enough to start pushing workplaces to adopt Apple, and that’s an even worse direction.

This isn’t ever going to change. The only thing they’ll do is give tools to Enterprise editions for businesses to control the install, and only via Azure, at a price point far too high for the average user. Anything less than Enterprise will be locked down and monetized to hell and back.

Effectively, if you’re not a business, you will not have true control over Windows. Users no longer get to be admins. You have to pay for that privilege.

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4 points

Yeah windows 11 is laying ground work for all of this.

It seems like they have decided that plebs and OEMs paying licenses was not a good business model.

Really makes you wonder where the entire business world is heading. It seems every company starting to prefer this route.

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6 points

They’re not offsetting anything, they still charge money for the boxed copy sold in stores. This is pure profit for them.

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-2 points

I don’t know why gen z is being portrayed as tech illiterate everywhere on lemmy. We grew up with technology and half of us are adults already

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2 points

Not until Gen Z gets old enough and numerous enough to start pushing workplaces to adopt Apple, and that’s an even worse direction.

Elder millennial here. This was said of us, too. I remember main framers sometimes noting this direction and poking fun.

Yet here I am and the world keeps chugging along in similar ways.

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2 points

Not until Gen Z gets old enough and numerous enough to start pushing workplaces to adopt Apple, and that’s an even worse direction.

I am a bit weirded out by such an association. Around me, I do see a few people with Apple tech, but they’re a minority. How would people that are able to afford these products be numerous enough to matter?

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6 points

I think they’ll go even harder, making Windows only run stuff purchased through the Windows Store so they can completely lock in the market.

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6 points

For “security“

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2 points

They already have a Windows “S” mode or whatever it’s called that does this. People will reject it, even casual users. I had one person ask me to turn off this mode to their kid could play Roblox. They just want to run apps, they don’t care how they work.

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15 points

the ads, bloat, spyware, needs to go

They just introduced them. What makes you think this isn’t an integral part of the future of Windows?

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1 point

(and finally put a nail in the old interfaces from XP and before)

that’s probably not going to happen because it will break some programs

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1 point

Honestly, there are some apps out there they need complete overhauls or to be completely replaced.

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27 points

that is absolutely not a downside

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1 point

GamePass.

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20 points

Article’s author didn’t fully catch the meaning of “downside”.

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2 points

Now that I can get the Windows Terminal and WSL without the Microsoft Store it seems like this is yet another bonus.

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1 point

It also talks about just setting your region again after the install to get the windows store working again. Most of the other bloat still stays away though.

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32 points

I choose antartica as region, and appers to be the same

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2 points

Look for Tiny10 and Tiny11 versions.

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2 points

What’s that?

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2 points

A barebones stripped down version of windows. Basically the smallest install possible to run windows. I use it on my Mac to virtualize windows.

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13 points

Do not recommend Tiny10/11. They are modified Windows ISOs and we have no way of knowing what actually was modified and if there’s anything malicious under the hood.

Besides it also completely breaks a bunch of actually useful features.

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3 points
*

The developer behind tiny10/11 publishing scripts on his GitHub that you can use to make your own tiny windows install.

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106 points

After the install. Create admin and user accounts not tied to ms. Use the user account normally, and when you need admin you enter the second account details.

Use Sophia script to clean up all the advert apps bundled with win11.

I wish I could find a script to remove the advert features from edge for when I have to office. Mozilla Firefox is your day to day browser.

Use chocolatey.org to install ur apps. When you do updates, one command can do it all.

Check start-up scripts, and ensure there is nothing that doesn’t need to be there. Teams no, zoom also no.

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11 points

Im assuming this is the Sophia Script you’re referring to? https://github.com/farag2/Sophia-Script-for-Windows

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5 points

Check start-up scripts, and ensure there is nothing that doesn’t need to be there.

Nothing better than Autoruns for this.

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11 points

Any reason to use chocolatey over winget?

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-1 points

::gestures broadly::

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2 points

Because you like poorly maintained hacky amateur install scripts

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2 points

Such a shame that winget is no longer preinstalled in Windows 11. have to install the msix bundle first and remove msstore as source.

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1 point

I’m not OP but some applications are not available on Winget.

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10 points

I actually managed to excise Edge from my system entirely, so pressing F1 in explorer doesn’t launch it anymore.

Dsspite some people warning that Edge was needed for some “core web functionality” it has broken nothing except the handful of places where they want to force you to launch a link in Edge. In that case nothing happens, but that’s not a big deal since I know how to use search engines to find information, which is the only purpose those features served.

It took quite a few steps but I got there. There are a few extra steps to stop it coming back in the next update but you can do it.

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4 points

Jesus Christ feels like using a treadmill!

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7 points

I like to use Winget instead of chocolatey

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62 points
*

Isn’t it ironic how you need instructions now to install Windows with a bearable level of bloat? Kinda like installing Arch just for uninstalling/skipping instead of installing.

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22 points
Deleted by creator
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2 points

So Arch works with every hardware imaginable without issues?

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11 points

In fairness, I don’t have to worry about any of this with Windows.

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5 points

The sad truth is that most people don’t care about all the bloat and adware.

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1 point

I do, i slipstreamed windows 11 both DISM and NTLite and guess what, unbootable! Great!

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2 points
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Does the Sophia script allow you to pick and chose what apps to remove? Some of them are actually useful.

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3 points

Yes, it does.

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3 points

I grew up on Windows, but Microsoft is seriously pushing me towards Linux. Gaming is all that keeps me here. I have a Steam Deck and I love what Valve is doing for gaming on Linux, so I hope that gets better and multiplayer games become possible.

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2 points

I mean a lot of multiplayers alr do

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10 points

Microsoft is a “New Oil” drilling company. Expect the Enron like approach

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