I haven’t had anything to do with windows in like 5+ years. I need to set up a laptop with it for someone tomorrow, I’m guessing W11 is nowadays recommended? what’s currently the best option for a hassle free experience (no ads, no random game installs, no migrations to onedrive, etc)?

last time I did it, I used the W10 ISO from Microsoft, applied the hwidsomething and ran some debloater from github. back then there were some ESR LTSC ISOs available on torrent sites, is that still a thing?

the install is going to use firefox, chrome, skype, libreoffice, etc., they all autoupdate themselves, so it’s going to be reasonably secure. what’s my best bet for a set & forget situation? thanks.

  • MangoPenguin@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
    2·
    10 months ago

    Download windows here

    Then run this tool and check off anything you want, like disabling onedrive, cortana, web results in search, etc…

    You can use this tool to easily bulk remove any pre-installed apps that you don’t want.

    I don’t recommend running big debloater scripts, they often remove useful things and can break things.

    For installing software you can use winget which is built into windows. For example:

    winget install TheDocumentFoundation.LibreOffice

    and

    winget update --all

  • magicalzfmk@lemmy.sdf.orgEnglish
    2·
    10 months ago

    Try atlas os dor windows 11 but I would recommend windows 10 ltsc Iot edition. Unlock it using MAS AIO. And you are good to go. Minimal installation without needless simplification of windows 11. It also will obtain windows 10 support longer(research that).

  • Banzai51@midwest.socialEnglish
    31·
    10 months ago

    Why not Linux? They can surf and do most everything they want. Plus when they have a question, you’ll be in a position to support it.

  • Quack@lemm.eeEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    I recommend Rufus for a hassle-free W11 install. Download the official iso from the Microsoft website and use Rufus to put it on a USB. Rufus has options to bypass the W11 hardware requirements and to bypass the need for Internet while installing W11. This will also disable the need to login to a Microsoft account.

    There’s workarounds by going into CMD during the Windows install but Rufus makes it a lot easier.

  • dingdongitsabear@lemmy.mlOPEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    thanks everyone for the input.

    ran it off my ventoy stick that also has all my linux ISOs, really didn’t feel like creating an USB installer. install went OK, managed to get the local user going, no extraneous apps installed and killed off what I perceived to be unneeded junk. got the 3rd party apps sorted, everything looks fine.

    on a side note - holy cow what a bloated and inefficient mess this is. and with the fucking updates, a neverending torrent of updates and drivers for this and that, it took like 4 hours from start to finish with like a million restarts inbetween… I can’t imagine having to use this thing daily.

    the new owner is in my thoughts and prayers, hopefully it’s another five years before I have to regedit this and that. thanks everyone all around!