Time For a New Operating System
It’s funny how it is often the little things that become the proverbial straw that breaks the Camel’s back. I have been struggling for a while with the overall performance and functionality of my Windows 11 PC. The operating system is bloated, slow and buggy. It all too often commits that unpardonable sin of trying to do my thinking for me and enables some stupid feature by default. Despite having good specifications, my PC takes too long to boot up for my liking and is becoming too much of a wild card with regard to whether it will co-operate or not when I try and undertake a simple task. As someone who is very particular in their PC habits, IE I see my PC as a tool that I use on the terms that suit me. Hence, I find the faux enthusiasm that accompanies each uncalled for “improvement” that results in me losing agency, singularly antagonising. Then a minor issue arose recently that escalated into a thorn in my flesh and I decided that it was time that something must be done.
It’s funny how it is often the little things that become the proverbial straw that breaks the Camel’s back. I have been struggling for a while with the overall performance and functionality of my Windows 11 PC. The operating system is bloated, slow and buggy. It all too often commits that unpardonable sin of trying to do my thinking for me and enables some stupid feature by default. Despite having good specifications, my PC takes too long to boot up for my liking and is becoming too much of a wild card with regard to whether it will co-operate or not when I try and undertake a simple task. As someone who is very particular in their PC habits, IE I see my PC as a tool that I use on the terms that suit me. Hence, I find the faux enthusiasm that accompanies each uncalled for “improvement” that results in me losing agency, singularly antagonising. Then a minor issue arose recently that escalated into a thorn in my flesh and I decided that it was time that something must be done.
I have an ageing 7th generation Amazon Fire HD 10 tablet from 2017. I’ve never really used it that much but it has recently gained a new lease of life as a means to entertain my grandson when we collect him from school. I copy various TV shows and films in .mkv format, onto the tablet and he watches them via VLC player. The tablet has sufficient battery life to keep him entertained throughout the journey. However, the problem occurs when trying to connect the Fire HD 10 to my Windows 11 PC and copy new content. The problem lies in the Windows 11 MTP (Media Transfer Protocol) which is the standard protocol that allows Windows to access files and media on your phone over a USB connection. It is unreliable, resulting in a lottery as to whether you’re tablet will be recognised when connected. Yes, there is a work around but this takes a few minutes each time to implement and it is not permanent. The problem returns each time you connect.
The home computer is predicated on ease of use and reliability. Sadly Windows 11 is not an exemplar of such ideals. There are a litany of performance issues that randomly occur throughout daily use, such a the Taskbar and the Start menu freezing, or officially sanctioned updates failing. The O/S is bad at uninstalling software, frequently leaving orphan files and other “dirty footprints” around. New functions such a recent addition of Co-Pilot are added and enabled by default and there is an ongoing move towards locking basic functionality down so as to make it harder for users to customise their overall experience. Windows is no longer a pure operating system but instead a live service that offers a wealth of superfluous functionality. Running your PC is an afterthought. Such a business strategy is alien to an individual such as I who thinks that when you attach a tablet to a PC to copy files, it should work first time.
Zorin OS has no issue detecting attached devices, such as an Android tablet, unlike Windows 11
Hence I recently installed Zorin OS, making my PC officially a dual boot system. The current version is Zorin OS 18.1, released on 15 April 2026. It uses a newer Linux kernel and updated drivers, improving support for recent graphics hardware, laptops and peripherals. Zorin OS 18.1 is currently regarded as one of the safest and most polished Linux choices for someone coming from Windows. It is not entirely trouble-free as there have been some hardware compatibility issues with the latest version but compared to Windows 11 is is far more stable and reliable. Let it suffice to say that I attached my Fire HD 10 and it was immediately detected and accessible. I rebooted the PC a further two times and encountered no issues. Zorin OS recognised the device and allowed me to access it. As I knew I’d be writing about this matter I needed to take a screen capture. I managed to figure out how to install an appropriate app and configure it. Again Zorin OS made this process easy.
I intend to experiment with Zorin OS over the next few months and come to grips with what it can do within the parameters of what I require from a computer. I intend to try and figure out as much for myself, rather than rely on YouTube and other sources of learning. I wish to determine how easy it is to master, using my existing knowledge of computer architecture and system administration. I am certainly not going to rush to abandon Windows 11, because that operating system will inevitably will have to be kept for gaming purposes. However, I can see a situation where my content production is all done via Zorin OS and that Windows 11 is used exclusively for gaming. However, let’s not get ahead of ourself. Let’s see how intuitive Zorin OS is to use and whether there are Linux alternatives for all the apps that I current use on Windows. I suspect that I may not be able to quit Windows altogether, but it seems feasible to relegate it to just a gaming platform.
The Decline of Windows
My Windows 11 PC is a cobbled together mess of upgrades, customisations and workarounds. It seems okay at first glance, mainly because my desktop is well organised and I don’t allow too many apps to start on boot up. But beneath this superficial veneer of efficiency and optimisation is a bloated mess. Every Windows update adds yet more spurious features which slows performance and tries to harvest your data. Windows is no longer a user friendly operating system that you buy and use without impediment. It is now a sprawling live service that actively gets in the way of your productivity so that it can make a buck off your inconvenience. There was a time when you could quickly learn its processes and foibles, so you could customise it into the tool you needed. Nowadays I have to continuously use third party tools to get Windows to do many of the things I want, or to access functionality that Microsoft has obtusely decided to restrict.
My Windows 11 PC is a cobbled together mess of upgrades, customisations and workarounds. It seems okay at first glance, mainly because my desktop is well organised and I don’t allow too many apps to start on boot up. But beneath this superficial veneer of efficiency and optimisation is a bloated mess. Every Windows update adds yet more spurious features which slows performance and tries to harvest your data. Windows is no longer a user friendly operating system that you buy and use without impediment. It is now a sprawling live service that actively gets in the way of your productivity so that it can make a buck off your inconvenience. There was a time when you could quickly learn its processes and foibles, so you could customise it into the tool you needed. Nowadays I have to continuously use third party tools to get Windows to do many of the things I want, or to access functionality that Microsoft has obtusely decided to restrict.
I have recently stopped using Microsoft Office 365. I had to download a specialist tool to “cleanly uninstall” it from my PC and when it finished running, it still left numerous orphan files and icons. I spent hours trying to remove a rogue blank icon from Control Panel and eventually had to use the Local Group Policy Editor to hide it, rather than delete it. The process is akin to trying to remove Japanese Knotweed from your garden. My latest headache is trying to remove (or hide) data that appears on screen when you click on your account icon on the Windows start menu. Details such as an email address should not be displayed by default, unless superficially requested by the user. This is a prime example of Microsoft trying to do the users thinking for them and pursuing a “one size fits all” approach. I expect to be able to fully customise any aspect of the UI in an operating system. Sadly Windows no longer seems to champions such customer choice.
This should be a capital offense
Naturally, there are alternative products to Windows and if I were starting totally from scratch, I would certainly embrace some version of Linux and a wealth of other indie production tools. Sadly, both my computer and user habits come with a lot of baggage and requirements. PC gaming is a substantial part of my leisure activities and that means using Windows. I’ve written various scripts to do simple tasks such as change screen resolutions or redesignate the default monitor. I don’t relish having to port these to a Linux environment, as well as dozens of other tweaks I have made. I afraid that I, like many other PC users, have my desktop, folder structures and naming conventions set up “just so”. Hence migrating to a new operating system would be a substantial and labour intensive undertaking. As such, the fear that something catastrophic could happen during such a project is sufficient for me to defer it for the immediate future.
The dream scenario would be to have dual boot PC, where I use Linux to write blog posts, record and edit podcasts and videos as well as browse the internet. Windows would be reserved exclusively for gaming and I would not install anything else beyond possibly Discord or some others means of communicating online. I would also exclusively use Proton Mail so I could manage my emails far more effectively. It would be a spartan but secure PC environment. As a very wise man once said “The more they overthink the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the drain”. However, for the present the dream scenario and indeed, any deviation from the status quo, are just idle speculation. It’s a shame how a once good product such as Windows has declined into a barely adequate money pit. And more fool you and me, for becoming so dependent on such corporations and products.
A Year in Technology
Looking back at my various posts regarding “technology” this year, a recurring theme has been my ongoing attempts to replace certain mainstream products with alternatives that do the job in-hand better, don’t require constant updates, aren’t bloated by superfluous functionality and are more cost effective or even ethical. Needless to say, this has proven quite hard. Hence I was unable to find a suitable replacement email client for Microsoft Outlook and end my subscription to Microsoft 365 Personal. The main problem is that most alternative software won’t support my email archive due to differences in the mailbox format. One possible work around is to install an older and therefore, non-subscription version of Outlook but this raises support and compatibility issues. It would be a lot easier to divest myself of a lot of mainstream software if I was starting from scratch.
Looking back at my various posts regarding “technology” this year, a recurring theme has been my ongoing attempts to replace certain mainstream products with alternatives that do the job in-hand better, don’t require constant updates, aren’t bloated by superfluous functionality and are more cost effective or even ethical. Needless to say, this has proven quite hard. Hence I was unable to find a suitable replacement email client for Microsoft Outlook and end my subscription to Microsoft 365 Personal. The main problem is that most alternative software won’t support my email archive due to differences in the mailbox format. One possible work around is to install an older and therefore, non-subscription version of Outlook but this raises support and compatibility issues. It would be a lot easier to divest myself of a lot of mainstream software if I was starting from scratch.
AI is currently everywhere and seems to be the biggest talking point of the year. I have mixed feelings on the subject as I feel that it can be a useful tool in some specific circumstances. I like AI tools that can be used to fix photos, as I am currently cataloguing my parents’ prodigious collection. Some of the pictures are from the start of the last century and have a lot of damage. I occasionally use AI for collating basic data. The sort of information that is not disputed or subject to political misrepresentation. However, I don’t agree with AI being used to bypass paid creativity and sadly that appears to be at the vanguard of its use. I’m sure Disney’s $1 Billion investment in OpenAI will end with negative consequences for the existing animators, voice artists and other creative employees. I look forward to an EU law that mandates that the use of AI has to be declared when buying a product or service.
Another notable aspect of 2025 has been the ongoing war between ad blockers and their respective corporate opponents. YouTube has pushed back hard against such apps and browser extensions. Although advertisements can still be blocked, there are notable delays, sometimes commensurate with the blocked adverts running time, before the desired video will actually play. Advertising has become more pervasive and invasive, even finding a foothold on my Windows 11 lockscreen and desktop. Fortunately such features can be removed. Advertising on social media also became problematic and is harder to remove or bypass. All of which indicates an advertising market that is declining, or at least fragmented, hence corporations are pursuing “their piece of the cake” more aggressively. Again, shareware, freeware and companies offering a one time payment, rather than a subscription become more appealing.
A short break at the end of October served as a timely reminder of the ubiquitous nature of the internet in our life and our reliance upon it for both work and leisure alike. I found myself in an environment (a static caravan) that did not have internet access by default and I briefly lost connectivity. It certainly gave me pause for thought about how I live my life. In the meantime while grappling with this philosophical crisis, I resolved the immediate problem by internet tethering to my phone. Another recent change is how I fill “dead time”. Over this year I have pivoted from reading while waiting for a bus, train or travelling, to relying on my phone to entertain me. This is mainly via the internet, with games such as Roblox. It’s not something I’m particularly proud of and I shall try and address this in the New Year. Using the internet for leisure is fun but everything in moderation.
I bought a little new technology this year, mainly out of necessity. My phone needed replacing due to battery bulge and my ageing monitors were becoming difficult for me to see clearly. So I bought a new handset and a pair of 2K monitors. I hope that I can future proof my current desktop PC for another 24 months. Looking forward to 2026, my next technology based endeavour is to see if I can ditch Windows as an operating system for everyday use. Perhaps set up a dual boot PC with a bare bones install of Windows for running games and some variation of Linux, such as Zorin OS, for everything else. I also need to continue with locking down my phone and making web browsing via that device as good an experience as using my PC. Overall technology is losing its appeal. Too often causes just as many problems as it solves. It also tends to serve the manufacturers needs more than the customers.
Software Updates
As part of our increasing dependency upon software, we have also grown accustomed to its associated foibles, especially the negative ones. Today, I upgraded my blog from Squarespace 7.0 to 7.1 and my PC operating system from Windows 10 to 11. I started early in the morning and ensured that all my personal data was backed up. My default expectation was that both processes would go wrong in some way, shape or form. Let’s take a moment to consider this mindset, which is born out of experience. It is now taken as read that whatever you upgrade, be it an app on your phone or a program on your PC, that it’s going to be problematic. It won’t be a seamless transition and you’ll end up having to do some sort of troubleshooting. Despite our lives becoming more dependent on such software, the quality of these products seems to be deteriorating. What a sorry state of affairs.
As part of our increasing dependency upon software, we have also grown accustomed to its associated foibles, especially the negative ones. Today, I upgraded my blog from Squarespace 7.0 to 7.1 and my PC operating system from Windows 10 to 11. I started early in the morning and ensured that all my personal data was backed up. My default expectation was that both processes would go wrong in some way, shape or form. Let’s take a moment to consider this mindset, which is born out of experience. It is now taken as read that whatever you upgrade, be it an app on your phone or a program on your PC, that it’s going to be problematic. It won’t be a seamless transition and you’ll end up having to do some sort of troubleshooting. Despite our lives becoming more dependent on such software, the quality of these products seems to be deteriorating. What a sorry state of affairs.
Setting aside the failures of the tech industry, I was pleasantly surprised by the fact that both upgrades went well, with no major fallout. With regard to Contains Moderate Peril, I am quite happy how individual posts are displayed. I just need to determine whether from now on, I can include images that scale to the width of the page (but display at full size when clicked on), rather than having to set them to a standard resolution. I also have to fix the main blog page, as it is currently showing each post in full, rather than just the first paragraph along with the option to “read more”. However, these are not deal breakers. The site is still functional for both PCs and mobile devices. Similarly, the Windows upgrade went well. I was interested to see that some of the formatting aspects of Windows 10 were carried over and as a result, I have not had to excessively tinker with the visuals of Windows 11.
Oddly, because things appear to have gone relatively smoothly, I cannot help but feel somewhat disconcerted. Mainly because, as mentioned earlier, we are so used to things just not going to plan these days with regard to the software we use. Hence for the next few days, I will remain prepared for some unforeseen technical issues to manifest themselves. If they materialise, so be it. If they do not, then it’s an added bonus. Hopefully, there’s nothing else on my PC that requires a major update, for the immediate future. That being said, I rebooted my phone earlier today and it has obviously installed an Android update. I only spotted this when I received a phone call and was furiously trying to swipe upwards to answer it. Turns out I now have to swipe to the right. Oh the pleasure of software upgrades! The tech companies obviously think that daily life just isn’t interesting enough.
Windows 11
I recently bought a new laptop which shipped with Windows 10 preinstalled. As I use this device mainly for writing and web browsing, I deemed it the perfect test environment for Windows 11. I have very few programs (sorry, I believe we now have to universally refer to them as “apps”, regardless of the platform) installed, there was minimal risk of running into compatibility issues. So I duly installed the free upgrade and to date there’s been no major problems. So far there have been some minor changes associated with contextual menus but nothing that I’d label a deal breaker. I can live with the visual changes and such like. I look forward to experimenting with the installation of Android apps which this version of Windows is supposed to support. Overall, this upgrade has been a success.
I recently bought a new laptop which shipped with Windows 10 preinstalled. As I use this device mainly for writing and web browsing, I deemed it the perfect test environment for Windows 11. I have very few programs (sorry, I believe we now have to universally refer to them as “apps”, regardless of the platform) installed, there was minimal risk of running into compatibility issues. So I duly installed the free upgrade and to date there’s been no major problems. So far there have been some minor changes associated with contextual menus but nothing that I’d label a deal breaker. I can live with the visual changes and such like. I look forward to experimenting with the installation of Android apps which this version of Windows is supposed to support. Overall, this upgrade has been a success.
However, and there always seems to be a however, that was not the case with Mrs P’s new laptop. That model shipped with Windows 11 in S Mode. According to the Microsoft website “Windows 11 in S mode is a version of Windows 11 that's streamlined for security and performance, while providing a familiar Windows experience. To increase security, it allows only apps from the Microsoft Store, and requires Microsoft Edge for safe browsing”. Which explained why I couldn’t install Mozilla Firefox. I suppose I can see the logic of having such a facility, especially for those who are not especially tech savvy. However, for someone like myself who is very particular about how they configure a laptop or desktop PC, this mode was nothing short of infuriating. It requires creating a Microsoft account and changing your settings online to disable this mode. Something else I wasn’t entirely happy about.
From what I’ve learned from some online research, the main differences between Windows 10 and 11 are mainly in advanced features, design and aesthetics. It would appear that the fundamental architecture is the same. A summary of new features and functionality is as follows:
Design and interface
Android app integration
Better virtual desktop support
Easier transition from monitor to laptop
Microsoft Teams added to the Taskbar
Widgets
Enhanced touchscreen, voice and pen support
Xbox tech to improve gaming
As I stated earlier, upgrading my laptop to Windows 11was a calculated risk that paid off with minimal problems. At present my desktop PC in my office is still running Windows 10 and due to the wealth of games and other software that is installed, I am reluctant to upgrade when there is scope for far greater inconvenience if things do not go well. Hence, I shall defer changing operating systems for a while longer, having learned over the years the hard lessons of being an early adopter. At some point I obviously will have to upgrade but by then if there are any “issues” associated with Windows 11, they will hopefully have been rectified. As I’ve stated before, it would be nice if Windows per se had the facility to disable or uninstall the features that you don’t use or need.