What's so bad about Windows 11? Help me understand — I want to know which aspects of Microsoft's OS bother you the most

Microsoft's Windows 11 has stood as the world's most popular operating system (OS) for a while now, found on millions of desktops, laptops, mini PCs, and even an expanding category of handheld gaming PCs like the highly-rated yet contentious ROG Xbox Ally X. The OS enjoys market saturation like no other, even after Windows 10 technically hit "End of Life" status earlier this month.

However, broad adoption doesn't perfectly translate to user satisfaction, and any social barometer will notice more complaints and gripes from Windows users every day. In fact, I doubt it would take much longer than ten minutes to find grievances on popular platforms like Reddit's r/Windows and alternatives like X. If you believe some consumers, Microsoft has fumbled Windows 11.

Now, I'm not completely dense. I know Windows 11 isn't perfect, and particular parts of its imperfection regularly annoy me. The most recent blunder is Microsoft's removal of local accounts during setup, and the subsequent blocking of workarounds like the more technical"obe/bypassnro" and "ms-cxh:localonly" commands. However, those won't be an issue for everyday users — so what is it about Windows 11 that bothers you?

Criticisms of telemetry and promotion of tools that supposedly disable it aren't new, continuing from Windows 10 and into Windows 11. Still, Microsoft's transparent shift to a focus on artificial intelligence (AI), particularly with Copilot for the masses, has arguably fueled the controversial topic of data privacy even further. The language models behind AI bots need to be trained on data, habits, and context, and the ethics behind how this information is gathered can be a delicate topic.

On the other hand, local AI like Windows Recall can run entirely on a PC equipped with a Neural Processing Unit (NPU) rated for at least 40 TOPS, qualifying it as a Copilot+ PC under Microsoft's AI PC standards — yes, it's all very complex and laden with initialisms and acronyms. Importantly, these locally processed AI tools should be the most secure examples, as the data is never intended to leave your device.

Is it just me or does Microsoft Recall look like another AI security nightmare? from r/msp

In the real world, "AI PCs" feel more like "AI laptops" because I don't personally know anyone who picked up an AMD Ryzen 7 8700G desktop processor for its NPU — as great as those chips were, with particularly excellent integrated graphics. No, the ultimate Windows 11 device is almost certainly a laptop, not a desktop PC, and it's been that way for a while.

Then again, there are laptop owners out there who can't upgrade to Windows 11 because of outdated components, including a lack of any TPM 2.0 chip. Naturally, one of Microsoft's leading recommendations for Windows 10 holdouts is to just buy a Windows 11 PC and solve your problems by spending money, but that's a little tone deaf, to say the least.

Besides, how are you supposed to sell users on the benefits of Copilot if you have to buy an entirely new PC to try it? Here, I understand the apprehension from many users, even from those with compatible hardware, who simply aren't interested in the ever-expanding (and often bizarre) AI integrations like Copilot in Notepad. Personally, I love Click to Do in Windows 11 and praise it whenever possible — it's just like "Circle to Search" on many Android smartphones.

Of course, Windows 11 isn't entirely about Copilot AI, and there are plenty of daily complaints that stem from pain points in its user experience (UX). Oversimplifications of the right-click menu delivered as "fixes" are a drop in the ocean of UI oddities overlaying decades-old control panel menus and ancient interfaces that hold Microsoft's OS together in the back end.

I wouldn't expect everyone to love Windows 11, but it's comical to see a repeating trend with previous generations of Microsoft's OS receive nostalgic love, particularly when they weren't so popular at launch. Seeing sentimentality for Windows Vista's "Aero" aesthetics on socials has me laughing when I remember how many of my PC gaming friends loathed its bugs and, eventually, happily jumped to Windows 7.

To each their own, and taste is subjective, but I still want to understand exactly which aspects of Windows 11 are the most frustrating for our readers, along with anyone else who connects with us on social media. I have my suspicions on which gripes will rank top on this wall of shame, but communication with you is ultimately the key to helping us deliver the best kind of content.

I'm no saint, by the way. If I could, I'd still be running Windows XP, playing music on Winamp, and connecting with friends on MSN Messenger — Windows 11 just feels like the logical choice for security and compatibility, but am I wrong? At the very least, I can stick with an XP‑style launcher for Android and keep my rose-tinted goggles away from my desktop PC.

Select up to 3 options from our poll, and tell me more in the comments! ⤵️

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