Anyone installing Windows 11 from scratch today will quickly realize that the operating system no longer wants to be just an operating system. Even during setup, you have to click your way through numerous prompts. Microsoft account, OneDrive, Microsoft 365, location sharing, diagnostic data, personalized advertising — time and again you have to actively opt out before you even reach the desktop.
This might just be a nuisance if it were an isolated incident. But that’s precisely the point: Many users now see this as a pattern. Windows feels less and less like a neutral tool — and more and more like a platform designed to steer you towards Microsoft’s services, subscriptions, and cloud offerings.
Windows used to be, above all, the foundation on which you ran your programs. Switch on your PC, log in, work or play. Of course, Windows was never perfect, but it got in the way less.
Nowadays, the hassle often starts as early as the installation stage. Microsoft is increasingly pushing users to set up Windows using a Microsoft account. Local accounts haven’t completely disappeared, but they’re much harder for many users to find. Depending on the version and installation method, you may need workarounds to set up Windows 11 without an online account.
This is no coincidence. A Microsoft account links Windows more closely to services such as OneDrive, Microsoft 365, Edge, Bing, and the Microsoft Store. This makes strategic sense for Microsoft. For many users, however, it feels as though they have to sit through an advertising campaign before they’re allowed to use their own PC.
Setting up Windows 11 is a test of patience
When performing a fresh installation of Windows 11, you’ll be asked time and again whether you want to enable certain services. Microsoft 365? OneDrive? Location sharing? Diagnostic data? Personalized adverts? Recommendations? Additional convenience features?
For experienced users, this is annoying. For less experienced users, it’s a problem. This is because many options are worded in such a way that you quickly click ‘Next’ and end up granting more access than you actually intended.
The problem isn’t that Microsoft offers these services. The problem is how intrusively these services are now integrated into Windows. An operating system should, first and foremost, allow you to control your own computer. However, many users feel that Windows is gradually taking that control away from them.
Advertisements and recommendations have no place in an OS
This is particularly evident in the Start menu. It used to be a simple overview of your programs. Today, it features sections such as ‘Recommended,’ references to apps or services, and, time and again, elements that seem less like useful features and more like product placement.
Microsoft services also feature prominently in other places. OneDrive is advertised, Edge is constantly being pushed to the fore, the search function uses Bing by default, and certain system functions continue to open Microsoft’s own services.
For many users, this crosses a line. After all, Windows is not a free-to-play product. Anyone who pays for a Windows license or buys a PC with Windows is rightly expecting an operating system — not a constant stream of prompts telling them which services they should use, try out, or subscribe to.
Edge, Bing, and OneDrive: Microsoft keeps you penned in
Another source of annoyance is the handling of default programs. In the past, Microsoft has repeatedly made it increasingly difficult for users to switch consistently to alternative browsers or services. While the default browser can be changed, Windows still prefers to open Edge for certain functions or uses Bing for searches.
This applies, for example, to widgets, search functions, or certain system links. From Microsoft’s perspective, this is understandable: The more users employ Edge, Bing, OneDrive, and Microsoft 365, the more valuable its own ecosystem becomes.
From the user’s perspective, however, it comes across as patronizing. Anyone wishing to use Firefox, Chrome, Google Drive, Dropbox, LibreOffice, or other alternatives should be able to do so without any obstacles. An operating system should allow freedom of choice and not constantly try to override that choice.
Data protection remains a sore point
Added to this is the issue of data privacy. Depending on the settings, Windows 11 collects a significant amount of diagnostic data. This includes information about the device, the hardware, system errors, the use of certain features and — where options are enabled — further data to improve services, input, or personalized experiences.
Many of these options can be disabled. But that is precisely the problem: Users have to actively seek them out. Anyone who simply clicks their way through the Windows setup may be revealing more than they realize.
The situation becomes particularly critical when data ends up in cloud services or is linked to a Microsoft account. Then it is no longer just a matter of a local operating system, but an entire network of services, accounts, and servers. For private users, this is a matter of convenience and data protection. For public authorities, schools, and businesses, it can become a strategic dependency.
Public authorities are also looking for alternatives to Microsoft
Discussions within government departments and public institutions show that this dependency is not merely a perception held by individual users. In Germany and other European countries, there are repeated reviews of whether public authorities should rely more heavily on open source, Linux, and more independent office solutions.
The reason is clear: Anyone using Microsoft products gets a very powerful all-in-one package. At the same time, however, they become heavily tied to a single provider. Windows, Office, Teams, OneDrive, Azure, and Microsoft 365 are all interlinked. This makes switching increasingly difficult.
In the public sector in particular, this raises the question of whether this dependence makes sense in the long term — especially when sensitive data, cloud services, and international legal jurisdictions are involved.
The subscription trend makes Windows even less attractive
Windows itself is only part of the problem. The broader trend is this: more and more subscriptions, less and less ownership.
Microsoft 365 instead of a traditional Office license. Cloud storage instead of local files. Game Pass instead of buying individual games. This can be practical, no question. Many services offer real added value. But users increasingly feel they have no choice.
In the past, you could buy software and use it for years. Today, you pay monthly — and if you stop paying, you lose features or access. For businesses, this model may be more predictable. For many home users, it feels like a constant burden.
Windows 11 artificially ages old PCs
A particularly controversial issue is the hardware requirements for Windows 11. Among other things, Microsoft requires TPM 2.0, Secure Boot, and supported processors. From a security perspective, these requirements are justifiable. In practice, however, they exclude many PCs that are still perfectly serviceable from a technical point of view.
The problem became even more apparent with the end of support for Windows 10. From October 2025, Windows 10 will no longer receive regular security updates, unless you register for the Extended Security Update program for Windows 10. Anyone with an incompatible device faces a difficult decision: Continue using it unsafely, buy new hardware, resort to workarounds, or switch to a different operating system.
For home users, there are DIY solutions. For businesses, schools, and public authorities, this is usually not an option. They need official support, clear update paths, and legally compliant systems. This creates enormous pressure to replace hardware that is still in working order.
This is also problematic from a sustainability perspective. When millions of PCs are phased out not because of faulty hardware, but because of software requirements, this sits poorly with the sustainability pledges of many tech companies.
Nevertheless, Windows isn’t simply bad
Despite all the criticism, Windows is not fundamentally a bad operating system. On the contrary. Windows is powerful, versatile, and remains the most important platform for PC software. It offers enormous compatibility, strong gaming support, and many specialist programs only run on Windows.
That is precisely why making the switch is difficult for many users. You can’t simply install Linux and carry on exactly as before. Some programs are missing, some workflows change, and some games or anti-cheat systems don’t work without issues.
So Windows remains a necessity for many people. But that is precisely what makes this development so frustrating. Microsoft knows that many users have little choice but to stick with it. And the more dominant Windows remains, the more Microsoft can push its own services, accounts, and subscriptions into people’s everyday lives.
Linux is becoming more appealing to gamers
At least there are now genuine alternatives. Linux has made enormous progress in recent years, particularly in the gaming sector. Thanks to Proton, Steam Deck, and specialized distributions such as Bazzite, many games are now much easier to play on Linux than they were a few years ago.
Linux isn’t the perfect solution for everyone. But it’s no longer just a system for tech enthusiasts. Anyone who mainly plays games, surfs the web, uses Office alternatives, and doesn’t absolutely need Windows-exclusive software can seriously consider switching today.
Even stripped-down versions of Windows or projects that rid Windows of bloatware make one thing very clear: Many users don’t necessarily want to move away from Windows. They just want a version of Windows that’s less of a nuisance.
Conclusion: Windows is losing ground not because of technology, but because of trust
The biggest problem with Windows isn’t that it fails technically. The biggest problem is that Microsoft is straining the trust of many users.
An operating system should run in the background. It should be stable, secure, easy to understand, and controllable. Windows is fundamentally capable of all this. Yet, with mandatory accounts, adverts, cloud services, recommendations, Edge, Bing, and subscription offers, Microsoft is increasingly inserting itself between the user and their device.
This is precisely why many long-standing Windows fans are frustrated. Not because they don’t understand computers. But because they want to use their computer as their own again.
Windows is still powerful. But for many users, it feels less and less like their own. And in the long run, that could prove more dangerous for Microsoft than any single bug in Windows 11.
This article originally appeared on our sister publication PC-WELT and was translated and localized from German.