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New Tool To Cut Down Windows 11 Bloat

Judge

Judge

Well-Known Member
V.I.P Member
This looks interesting. A comprehensive third-party open source utility (Sparkle) tested by Brite09 who tends to be pretty tough on Microsoft in general, particularly over Windows 11 and that which drags down the performance of the operating system. Particularly for gamers.

I know if I do install Windows 11, I'd appreciate anything that can comprehensively shut down functions like "copilot" and "recall", both applications that seem to amount to the ultimate in spyware. Being able to turn them off permanently would be a condition of my even using this OS.

Looks simple to use, yet goes over many aspects of Windows 11 unnecessary and even toxic for many users who cherish their privacy. Not sure if I'd use their utility to purge caches and things like that though. May be best to stick to native disk management tools which Microsoft offers.

 
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Outdated said:
There's an even better tool for that here: :)

Get Ubuntu | Download | Ubuntu
Click to expand...

It's true. :cool:

Just about any Ubuntu-based Linux distribution is a better choice, even if Microsoft were to somehow get their act together and fix Windows 11 once and for all.

Knowing that Windows 10 users either pay Microsoft to extend security support for 12 months or be prepared to migrate elsewhere...Mac, or Chrome OS....etc..

Seriously- after October 14th, you don't want to be caught running Windows 10 without further security patches. I remember running Windows XP for a brief time well after end-of-life just to see what would happen. It got ugly. Luckily at the time I had "Spybot Search & Destroy" to bail me out!

I recently put Windows 10 on a temporary SSD and realized how extravagant and overdone it is compared to Linux Mint. Really emphasizing the term "bloatware". Far simpler to use in comparison without so many features and functions most folks probably don't use or understand.

Whatever OS you choose, don't wait for the clock to run out without a plan.

End of support for Windows 10, Windows 8.1, and Windows 7 | Microsoft Windows

Download Linux Mint 22.2 - Linux Mint
 
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So glad I switch full-time to Mac two years ago when my top gaming machine couldn't upgrade to Windows 11.

My angry PC outbursts were gone and had an OS that just worked.
 
Windows has a unique feature in that all telemetry and other dubious services disabled via Group Policy Editor will be reactivated mysteriously a few months later along with a few bonus addons like advertisements in the Start Menu
 
maleonolo said:
Windows has a unique feature in that all telemetry and other dubious services disabled via Group Policy Editor will be reactivated mysteriously a few months later along with a few bonus addons like advertisements in the Start Menu
Click to expand...

Good point. Yep..."that's the rumor". Probably why they can now afford to ignore third-party programs like this. A while back Windows 11 wouldn't allow most of them to even be installed. That whatever is "customized" will otherwise be "neutralized" in successive updates. - Perhaps Brite09 will comment on that.

"The Lord giveth and taketh away". :rolleyes:

I may simply opt to explore just a few gaming possibilities exclusively with Linux, and forget Windows altogether. Would save me around $240 between a Windows ISO and a Samsung SATA- SSD.

Still looking forward though to the release of Linux Pop!OS "Cosmic". I know it goes beta around the end of the month. Reviews continue to be good...but we'll see. Hopefully available in the Winter of 2026.
 
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Yeah, most of this stuff is just ends up like the useless machine unfortunately. For reference:


A lot of these things are great ideas, but I think most of us still clinging to Windoze (myself included, although I've definitely branched out to desktop and embedded-specific variants of Linux in recent years) realize that we don't really have any control at all, and the bloatware just increases by design over time on purpose.

I think we've reached peak computing about a decade ago, but the unoptimized nature of our software and operating systems has given us the facade that we continue to need bigger and better hardware all the time. All just to handle more ridiculous bloat nobody ever wanted in the first place.

And if it weren't for the highly-specific software I use, I would've made the full switch a long time ago!
 
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