What do you do to make Windows more private?

[CurtisLew]

It's turning into shitty spyware software. I mean let's be real it's always been like that but it's worse now.

What settings or what do you disable on your Windows PCs to make it more private?

So far all I've got is disabling Copilot but they make even that hard. Automatic updates being disabled is another one.

 

[GoldenGlovez]

One of the best ways I've found to secure a Windows PC and remove it's telemetry data tracking is to uninstall it and install a Linux distribution instead. If you absolutely need Windows for some piece of software that doesn't have an open source alternative then run it in a VM (or dual boot). They have aggressively made it harder and harder to gain full control over your own Windows installations (outside of enterprise editions) and have tied in systems that break functionality when disabling other areas, that it just isn't worth the hassle for me.

 

[t2van]

Curtains or netting

 

[ggmopa]

They are getting rid of the local account creating mechanism - oobe for good. That alone should tell you everything you need to know.

One of the best ways I've found to secure a Windows PC and remove it's telemetry data tracking is to uninstall it and install a Linux distribution instead. If you absolutely need Windows for some piece of software that doesn't have an open source alternative then run it in a VM (or dual boot). They have aggressively made it harder and harder to gain full control over your own Windows installations (outside of enterprise editions) and have tied in systems that break functionality when disabling other areas, that it just isn't worth the hassle for me.

Real question is which is more of pricacy risk for users Win 11 or MacOS? Sadly some software, thinkong namely of Creative Cloud only works on these two systems.

 

[GoldenGlovez]

They are getting rid of the local account creating mechanism - oobe for good. That alone should tell you everything you need to know.



Real question is which is more of pricacy risk for users Win 11 or MacOS? Sadly some software, thinkong namely of Creative Cloud only works on these two systems.

Adobe products have been a pain point for years, but it's a lot better nowadays.

Vector files I use Inkscape.
Graphic editing I use a mixture of Krita & Gimp.
Video editing I use Davinci Resolve.
Raw photo editing I use RawTherapee.
Photo management I use Shotwell.

All completely free options, works very well and arguably better than Adobe's offerings in some areas. Affinity Photo is another competitor to the Adobe graphics suite which while currently Windows/Mac only, does work under Wine and their management has recently discussed native Linux builds in the future.

 

[SilverClouds]

Adobe products have been a pain point for years, but it's a lot better nowadays.

Vector files I use Inkscape.
Graphic editing I use a mixture of Krita & Gimp.
Video editing I use Davinci Resolve.
Raw photo editing I use RawTherapee.
Photo management I use Shotwell.

All completely free options, works very well and arguably better than Adobe's offerings in some areas. Affinity Photo is another competitor to the Adobe graphics suite which while currently Windows/Mac only, does work under Wine and their management has recently discussed native Linux builds in the future.

Yeah, realistically once you get into Linux you join the whole software ecosystem. You basically have all these free tools available, that you don't even need to pirate, card or use a checker for. So why bother with other software? Plus you can still use web apps like Canva, browser plugins, etc. As a long term Linux user my nr 1 goal isn't running Windows apps on it lol. But I understand that perhaps someone needs some specific software for their job or needs some functionality.

 

[Dopious]

Disconnect Internet and you are fine, add a pillow to the bathtub and you will feel like a king.

 

[Champagne]

There are good videos on this. I think they talk about software called “DoNotSpy11,” which does all the manual work for you in terms of deactivating different settings. Check the video out: