Non-Tax Topic: Microsoft Update

[Beersheba]

I should have known better. Updates are to "serve us better." Right??

Microsoft kept sending me messages to the effect that the world was going to explode into radioactive pieces if I didn't upgrade to Windows 11 from Windows 10.

Like I said, I should have known better.

Now my active "tray" is filled with icon garbage that doesn't help me, and doesn't do anything except promote more Microsoft stuff. Half a dozen more icons that don't help me at all, and I can't get rid of them on my tray.

Anyone know how to get rid of this Microsoft junk??

[Rapid Robert]

Well, at least you didn't do it in the middle of tax season!

One extreme option is to roll back to Win 10, which should be an option somewhere in your "Settings", at least for a few weeks after the upgrade. There are also options to re-install Win 10, but probably not what you want to do.

Based on your description, this is more of an annoyance than something that is preventing you from doing work, so another option is just live with it and get used to it -- after all, it's pretty rare to actually "own" your devices these days, they are all really just being rented to you by Apple, Microsoft, Google, etc. (after you make your up-front deposit for the hardware). If you are running Linux on your smartphone, then maybe this comment does not apply to you.

Third option, search the internet for suggestions.

I figure I have another two years or so before support for Win 10 ends. For me, it's the inability to move the task bar to whichever side of my screen I want that is the main obstacle to upgrade, plus of course I try to never be on the "bleeding edge" and with Windows, "bleeding edge" being the first year or two of any major new version.

[Beersheba]

Thank you for your discussion, RR. It is heartwarming to know that loving institutions such as Microsoft are so concerned about my welfare.

[Lion]

If it's icons on your desktop or along the bottom of your screen, and they're "shortcuts" to apps/programs, you can delete those icons. If you want to get rid of the underlying programs, you'll have to go to Uninstall. Sometimes a program has an Uninstall in its own menu items when you click on the program in the list and its own menu opens. Other times, you use the Uninstall in Windows. I don't know Windows 11 so don't know where to find things, but as my grandkid says, "Click around."

I too hate updates. A recent one that installed itself has a couple things looking different, with more things opening under Edge instead of my preferred/default Chrome. Annoying but not so much that I can spend any time on it now (CT has free money for families but applications close 31 July and a 2021 tax return is required).

Back to extended returns.

[Beersheba]

Thank you for your reflection, Lion. If the icons reflect a program, they can be removed just as you say. These new icons (some half-dozen, with one exception) represent advertisements for new Microsoft applications. Maybe by bringing this to the front of the conversation can alert others to what to expect if they fall victim to the siren song of Windows 11.

[ATSMAN]

Windows 11 is all hype! My son upgraded his laptop and found the same type of issues plus he observed that certain programs took longer to start etc. Fortunately he had a disk impage from Windows 10 and he restored that back after doing a complete cleanup of the Hard Disk and is back to where things were before the upgrade.

I can upgrade my laptop for free to Windows 11 BUT I am not going to do that until support for Windows 10 expires for good. I believe that is 2025. But just like Windows XP sunset I have a high confidence that Microsoft will be forced to extend it because of the extremely large user base of Windows 10 especially outside USA who may not be able to upgrade the hardware to match Windows 11 requirements. A lot of foreign countries import used hardware from USA and Europe and those computers have the old BIOS that is not compatible with Windows 11.

[Beersheba]

One extreme option is to roll back to Win 10, which should be an option somewhere in your "Settings", at least for a few weeks after the upgrade.

RR thanks. I was able to recall Win 10 under the "settings". MS kept asking me repeatedly if I wanted to do this, and now I am free of the unwanted clutter.

The notable thing during this whole process was how I was being told I was in a cold,dreary weather, and if I would agree to Windows 11, the clouds would part and give way to warm sunshine. Very much like watching a TV ad for a political candidate during this election year.