Yep, especially with Windows 11, Microsoft tries to force feed the user with a lot of their products, and uses telemetry and the Microsoft user account to get as much information from the user as possible. And if the user logs in to Edge and Copilot, that’s even more personal information being collected all the time.
The OOBE\BYPASSNRO trick works well, or at least did in the earlier iterations. Microsoft was trying to block that.
I found creating an installer flash drive with Microsoft’s ISO file and Rufus even easier. When creating the installer, there’s a dialogue box in Rufus where we can choose to remove requirement for creating a Microsoft account, we can choose to automatically create a local user account and even choose the username, disable data collection and disable Microsoft’s BitLocker automatic device encryption (if we want to choose our own, like VeraCrypt). Installing this way was also a lot faster, since it disabled all the pop-ups Microsoft pushes during the installation (trying to get the user to use their apps).
I never tried Linux, but just for fun I might install it on an old PC to see if I like it.
But I like Windows 11 so much, especially installed without the data collection and as a local user. I feel much safer now. It even works faster!
Instead of OneDrive I have my files saved to pCloud. And LibreOffice works as a solid alternative to Microsoft apps.
It is true that, although we can make our personal choices as to use only European alternatives for major software, the reality is that almost all European companies both in the public and private sector are completely dependent of Microsoft cloud, Teams, Office 365, or Amazon instead of OneDrive. For years European and American leaders have been talking about our dependency from China, and nothing ever happens, I mean, it is all talk and no action (it is ALWAYS a lot of talk and no action). Now we are worried whether the US is still our ally (because of this talk about taking Greenland from Denmark). We never had to think our dependency on American companies could ever be a risk, but now we are in very uncertain times. So it is natural we here on this side of the pond are having to rethink which software we use.
I remember cases when people were locked out from Google, so it is a serious risk to consider. But using android, if suddenly we couldn’t login into Google, maybe not even our phones would work.
That brings up a good thing as well, I use MSEdgeRedirect to redirect all the times that Windows pushes you into Edge it pushes you into your default browser instead.
I love Samsung’s OS and all its features so much. It would be hard to leave it. I don’t know whether it is even possible without rooting the phone. It seems (as weird as it sounds) easier to de-google a Google Pixel phone.
Yeah! The moment I started thinking about replacing my beloved Windows 11 with dreaded Ubuntu, I knew something is completely wrong…
But it’s just fact that we cannot rely on certain countries and companies anymore. If this is the new reality, so be it.
And maybe that’s a good insight, not only on a personal level, or a corporate point of view - but also from a national or EU perspective.
In the end, it will lead to quite some opportunities … having to reinvent ourselves again. So that’s pretty exciting too, right? I was shocked at first, but now I embrace it.
Samsung are a little more locked down in terms of rooting and flashing a new ROM from what I understand. I have an S24U, but it appears (ironically) that if you want to go with a new OS, Pixel phones are the way to go.
No, you need to root your phone. I had only Samsung phones and tablets since day one. And I always went for custom Androids after Samsung stopped supporting the devices, giving those a 2nd life. Most devices are supported officially, but not all.
Hahaha!
I have rooted the S7, S10, S20 and S21, as well as some old tablets, recently. Some were easy to root, others took a few fails and a lot of cursing.
All worked out great in the end, and even the S7 felt very good…
If you have some old Samsung in your drawer - make it to your new geek hobby!
I gave all my old Samsung devices to “my” park punks, except the S20 and the S10, which we use as backup phones…
One problem is that older phones have less resolution in their cameras. They also have less memory, less storage, etc. Not all apps would work. But it is still worthy rooting them for fun and practice. Why not?
I just use AI for search now. It’s really good at it if you use it properly (i.e. ask it to find info sources for you rather than provide the answer itself)
