After 30 Years With Linux, I Switched It For Windows 11 - And Found 9 Serious Problems

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ZDNET's cardinal takeaways

• Jack Wallen spends a week utilizing Windows 11.
• During this experiment, he encountered a wide scope of issues.
• In nan end, it made him admit Linux each nan more.

"Why do group willingly usage Windows?" Less than 1 hr into my experiment, this mobility came to mind, and complete nan adjacent 7 days, I was incapable to get astatine an answer.

Hello, my sanction is Jack Wallen, and I'm a glutton for punishment. For immoderate reason, a week agone today, I decided to move my default operating strategy from Linux to Windows. I did not travel astatine it pinch immoderate preconceived conclusions. In fact, I wanted nan acquisition to beryllium positive. 

Also: Want to ditch Windows? This Linux distro makes that modulation easy

I wanted to commencement utilizing Windows and acquisition each nan reasons group usage nan OS for some business and individual use. Surely, Windows 11 was an efficient, zippy, user-friendly, and reliable operating system, right?

Turns out, it was nary of those things.

Remember, this is coming from a longtime Linux user who has been accustomed to an OS that tin beryllium and usability precisely really I want it to. I'm utilized to being successful power of my desktop -- not having my desktop power me.

That's precisely really I felt while utilizing Windows 11. I'd been moved retired of nan driver's spot and relegated to nan backmost spot pinch nan children, arsenic nan adults insisted we do what they wanted, really they wanted, and erstwhile they wanted.

Let maine stock my acquisition pinch you. Hopefully, aft reference this, you'll yet want to ditch Windows for Linux.

1. Creating a section relationship was a symptom

Right retired of nan gate, Windows 11 showed maine conscionable really achy it was going to be. I did not want to usage a Windows account to log into nan operating strategy (and why would anyone willingly do that?). So, I group astir to create a section account.

Wow, what a symptom that was. In Linux, I tin create an relationship pinch nan bid sudo adduser jack. Answer a fewer elemental questions (such arsenic afloat sanction and password), and that's it. I tin log retired of 1 relationship and log successful pinch nan other.

Also: The champion Linux VPNs of 2026: Expert tested and reviewed

With Windows 11, I beautiful overmuch had to waste my soul, do a backflip, committedness to kneel astatine nan ft of Microsoft, and study to fly. OK, that's what it felt like.

Your first steps pinch an OS should not beryllium hair-pullingly frustrating.

2. Google Passkeys will not activity

Ah, Google and its passkeys. This is different constituent of contention because they rolled retired a work that simply wasn't ready.

Now, I'm not judge if this is Google's aliases Microsoft's problem, but nary matter what I did, I could not motion successful to my Google account. Mind you, I could create a caller Linux virtual instrumentality and, wrong seconds, beryllium connected to my Google account. But pinch Windows, I had to alteration nan "Hello" work earlier passkeys would work. 

Even past (with my Google passkey virtually successful hand), Windows 11 wouldn't play along. Come on!

3. An email customer that really disappointment maine

I needed an email client, and I thought I'd effort 1 from nan Microsoft App Store. 

The email customer successful mobility was Mailbird. Once I had Mailbird installed and an relationship added, nan app decided it wanted maine to pony up for nan paid type by measurement of a pop-up. But this wasn't immoderate aged pop-up. This pop-up prevented maine from accessing different apps. I couldn't unfastened nan process show to adjacent Mailbird, and I couldn't unfastened nan terminal model to adjacent Mailbird. I was stuck. 

The only solution I recovered was to reboot and activity arsenic quickly arsenic I could to delete nan app earlier Mailbird mysteriously opened (without my doing so) and took control. I yet succeeded, but it took maine respective tries.

With Linux, I could person utilized SSH to log successful to nan desktop and uninstall Mailbird from nan bid line.

4. Natural scrolling is truthful unnatural

The adjacent point I had to do was disable earthy scrolling. Whoever thought this was a bully thought should beryllium fired. Off to Settings I went. The characteristic was reasonably elemental to find, and I switched it to my preferred scrolling direction.

That should person been nan extremity of it, but no! For immoderate reason, I could not get Windows to grant nan change. No matter what I did, Windows 11 insisted earthy scrolling was what I wanted. Au contraire, mon ami.

Also: The only Linux bid you request for monitoring web postulation - and really to usage it

The full clip I utilized Windows 11, my encephalon had to perpetually readjust itself and retrieve I was surviving successful Bizzaroworld.

5. Ads? Are you kidding me?

Seriously. I saw ads astatine nan acold near of nan Windows 11 panel. I besides spotted them successful nan desktop menu. Why would anyone beryllium OK pinch this?

To debar that altogether, I installed nan Seelen model head truthful I didn't person to spot ads aliases look astatine that boring Windows 11 UI.

Ads... successful an OS. Sheesh.

6. Save As defaults to OneDrive? Why?

After astir an hr moving pinch Windows 11, I had to prevention a record and noticed that it instantly defaulted to OneDrive. I hadn't moreover logged successful to my OneDrive relationship (because I ne'er usage it). This was very frustrating for maine because I do not want my activity saved to a unreality relationship (for respective reasons, galore of which person to do pinch AI).

I wanted to region OneDrive from nan full acquisition but decided it wasn't worthy nan effort for a weeklong experiment.

7. Windows 11 uses truthful galore resources

After I realized that nan laptop I was utilizing ran really basking and nan fans were perpetually kicking on, I did a spot of speedy investigating and recovered nan msedgewebview2.exe process to beryllium nan problem. This process is portion of nan Microsoft Edge WebView2 Runtime, and it consumes sizeable resources. The crazy point is, I wasn't moreover utilizing Edge. I installed Opera and utilized it exclusively.

Also: Yes, you tin tally Windows apps connected Linux - present are my apical 5 ways

I'm judge there's a bully logic why msedgewebview2.exe was running, but to devour much resources than Opera pinch 10 aliases truthful tabs unfastened is crazy.

8. Virus and threat protection

This is Windows, truthful I afloat understand nan request for protection. I cannot ideate utilizing this OS without a few levels of protection because, without it, it's conscionable a matter of clip earlier thing nefarious happens.

I decided to cheque successful connected it and found, to my shock, that Virus and Threat Protection was not enabled, nor was relationship protection aliases app and browser control. From nan looks of it, nan first 2 are cloud-based and Windows account-based. However, connected different page wrong Windows Security, some are listed arsenic On. What's nan disconnect?

I would ne'er acquisition this connected Linux (nor would I request to). To beryllium honest, I expected to find retired that excessively galore protection services were up and moving -- not nan opposite.

9. Power and artillery options

I utilized a laptop to trial Windows 11. During my first fewer hours, I noticed something: nan laptop surface wasn't going achromatic aliases entering hibernation. Doesn't Windows 11 auto-detect if it's being utilized connected a laptop? Linux judge does. Had I not known to look for this, I could person been utilizing that laptop unplugged and tally retired of artillery prematurely.

Why is that nan default?

Also: I'm a Linux powerfulness user, and this distro made maine rethink what an operating strategy tin be

On apical of each nan supra issues, I ever felt arsenic if thing was going to clang connected maine and origin maine to suffer work, aliases that Windows would determine it needed to update and automatically reboot connected me. I ne'er erstwhile (during nan full week) felt arsenic if I could relax and conscionable usage nan OS to do my work. Not once.

This is my past time utilizing Windows 11

As soon arsenic I constitute this piece, I'm heading correct backmost to my wooby -- Linux. I dream to ne'er person to dangle connected Windows again because if this acquisition has taught maine anything, it's that Linux is exponentially amended than Windows successful each conceivable way.