I hate Windows 11. I know it’s not a revolutionary version. Unfortunately, for creatives, Windows still wins. especially when it comes to hardware support. My displeasure is not a big surprise. I love Linux, and rightly so.but when even my lifelong Windows friends hate Windows 11, something is up.
Fortunately, there are some simple changes you can make in Windows 11 (most of which also work in Windows 10) that will make your experience less painful, whether you’re longing for the old days of Windowsor try to make it a little more inspired by macOS or Linux.
Reduce swelling
One tool undoes much of the damage
Using Windows 11 can be a shock to the system. I log in and they immediately tell me about the stock market. I go to open my video editor and the Start menu lights up like Las Vegas. The context menu, control panel, and default applications are hidden behind well-intentioned but absolutely cryptic menus.
Am I exaggerating? Maybe, but the sheer amount of visual noise that Windows 11 introduces isn’t fun for anyone. Fortunately, Win11Debloat It solves most of these problems and is incredibly easy to use.
Messing with your operating system can break things. Back up your data and consider carefully before making changes to a shared or work computer.
Win11Debloat is a simple PowerShell script Raphire, GitHub user That fixes many common annoyances in Windows 10 and 11. Don’t be fooled by the simple descriptor, though; The core of Win11Debloat is a highly customizable tool that toggles many annoying Windows features. you can turn off annoying elements case by casebut the default mode is a great starting point. The best part? It’s just a script you enter into PowerShell.
& ((scriptblock)::Create((irm "https://debloat.raphi.re/")))
This command, taken from the Win11Debloat GitHub page, downloads and runs Win11Debloat. I recommend toggling the “Create a system restore point” option in case you need to roll it back. Default mode removes AI integration, telemetry, ads and suggestions, Bing and Cortana, and much more, such as described in Win11Debloat Wiki.
It also removed almost all of the redundant Microsoft and third-party programs that normally ship with Windows 11. Goodbye, Microsoft.ZuneVideo (Yes, Movies/Movies & TV for Windows is still called Zune Video at heart), you won’t be missed.
make it look good
Small adjustments make a big difference
To improve the visuals and feel of Windows 11, there are a few options. If you want the full macOS experience, you can get pretty closebut if customization is your thing, there are really only two contenders, both with trade-offs.
Selen user interface has seen significant changes and improvements in recent years, and can completely review how your operating system feels. It uses Tauri, a framework that bridges a Rust backend with a React-like frontend running on the native Windows WebView. Add themes, window management, widgets and launchers, all with unlimited customization possibilities.
Although some users find it slow and buggy, its extreme customization makes it popular. The downside is the potential for slowdowns, especially on multiple monitors where you will be updating multiple WebViews per monitor. While the bug that caused Seelen UI to steal focus during games seems to be fixedModify slowly and expect errors!
prefer wind hawk. While Seelen UI is a single piece of software, Windhawk is more like a mod aggregator with a large library of community-created mods. Uses runtime .dll injection into Windows 11 processes to execute modifications. Everything happens in memory, which makes it fast and never touches the system or the registry. This also relates to compensation.
While you can limit how Windhawk is injected into your system, it should be injected directly into Explorer and other essential system tools. This means that when it fails, can crash hard in unpredictable ways. You are also running community created code on your machine. While the userbase is vetted before the mod is submitted, proceed at your own risk!
For me, the main appeal is visual. After downloading the Windhawk ClientI looked for the Windows 11 taskbar style. This mod adds themes to your taskbar and also acts as a great introduction to how Windhawk mods interact. Once you install Task Bar Styler, you will have the option to install a variety of themes. I chose rosapino and, after installation, followed the topic notes to install the dependent mods with the correct configuration. Boom. An instant pleasure for the eyes.
Windhawk can do a lot more than this, from modifying animations and visuals to customizing the menu and removing the damn “to exit full screen, press and hold Esc” popup in browsers. However, instead of more modifications, we will look closer to home for the next adjustments.
Get some shiny new toys
PowerToys is not new, but it solves many problems
Credit where due, power toys It’s great. This collection of useful apps from Microsoft brings many features that have been missing from Windows for years. The snipping tool and monitor zones built into Windows 11 started out as PowerToys.
You may have noticed that I activated my Start menu earlier. This is because the Command Palette replaces it entirely with a launcher similar to macOS Spotlight. He It even has a native dockif you prefer to skip installing third-party mods. There’s a lot to cover here, but my personal PowerToys highlights include:
- Grab and move — Grab a Linux-like window while holding down the Alt key
- Color picker — Get RBG, HEX or any other color format you can think of instantly, anywhere.
- Keyboard Manager — Simple key remapping with chord support
- quick accent — Simple context menu for accents: essential for bilingual typing on an English keyboard.
There are many more, and the PowerToys Documentation covers them all. Each of these represents something I’ve hacked or fixed in Windows in the past. Fair play, Microsoft, this is good. That said, there are still some things that shouldn’t be so annoying.
Better but not fixed
There is a lot you can do
These changes go a long way toward making Windows 11 a much more enjoyable experience, but Microsoft still finds ways to annoy everyone. For example, if you install a new text editor, you will need to manually switch each file type from Notepad to your new editor. This is a recent change, for decent security reasons, but it’s infuriating.
The Windows subsystem for Linux has gotten better and betterbut for now, I’ll stick with Unix where I can for the time being.
