... and sell to third parties, a lot like Google!
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Yes that is true. Then calling to you want selling some stuff.
Yeah, I am aware of the MSEdgeRedirect - that is a good solution.
I just find the notion of this being needed to be insulting, a sign that Microsoft is not only refusing to accommodate for user choice in this case, but actively resisting it. I think the most egregious gesture came when Microsoft issued an update to stop the earlier EdgeDeflector tool from working. That's just really bad, user-hostile behaviour, and it even tarnishes the Microsoft Edge brand (which is actually quite a nice browser).
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If Windows 10 is your least favoured OS from Microsoft I can see you have not tried Windows 11.
Have been on computers since DOS was new and translated for Microsoft Ireland beginning of Windows, where we did not know if Windows also should be translated to local languages and never were sure if Windows were to be called “Outlook”. It is well known that windows can be used to look out of - or look in-to.
Later I have found out that Windows were never meant to be windows for looking out, but for Microsoft to look into your personal data.
Microsoft Ireland sent to me disks of every new alpha etc. and I was curious trying them all out. They stopped sending me their new versions when I moved to a different address and “forgot” to inform my new address.
When came NT it was interesting, 2000 was a disaster (last system I received to test from Ireland), XP was the first really good operation system from Microsoft. Windows 7 was much more polished and popular and the Ultimate version was pretty good. From then it want downhill. More and more spyware was in there to help users get a better experience (and Microsoft to get more of your personal data) but Microsoft is so good at polishing the OS that most people think it is either great of just OK.
Now that Microsoft has made a lot of still well-functioning machines obsolete (landfill?) because they want us to get new machines that are easier to spy on we can hope that Linux will get a share and become more mainstream.
I still use Windows 11 for work as there are several programs that cannot run in Linux, no matter if fanboys of Bottles and Wine praise how well these apps are and dual-boot or virtual-machines are not the way forward.
There is so much talent in the Linux communities it could go that way; unfortunately I do not think it will.
Too many distros – too many “know it all” people - that do know a lot, but have no wish to be friendly or patient.
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There is much truth to your post, I'm thankful more folks are figuring it out, that Microsoft is not your friend. And while Linux is far better then Windows, there is always room for improvement in Linux community. Very well said sir.
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My first computer: the Atari STe, for which I developed some shareware MIDI apps, way back when. Such a good system. I had great music software (Steinberg, lots of FOSS); German completely graphical Word Processor and DTP (Calamus - eventually transferred to Windows, they invented some really good font handling technology).
Then people showed me Windows 3 - and I was appalled at the clunkiness. I had started doing some tech support for local small businesses.
I built my fist PC with Win95, then 98 - great towering beasts. I can't say I particularly liked it, it worked tolerably well, but I always found the interface clunky and such a lack of cohesion and style. (I had also used Macs from the 68000, 68030 era onwards, principally for a publisher friend and local photographers who were friends and clients).
I built a music studio in Win 98, using an expensive PCI card interface that was swear-inducing as it constantly seemed to lose its drivers, had to have its various drivers installed in the correct order with the wind in the right direction. That became obselete when the next version of Windows came along - ouch.
I taught local adult learning classes basic computer skills on Windows 98, Office and Access databases, some did their ECDL (European Computer Driving License - a valid accreditation especially for those who had left school without qualification).
I dabbled with some linux install disks from PC magazine. I can remember Red Hat and SUSE something. It was confusing and always ended in failure to install software because dependencies and a dial up modem.
The XP experience is a blur. I liked Windows 7 very much, I had the Pro version if it was called that. So that answers the thread question: Windows 7.
Win8 came on a new laptop. Oh my, that was not a fun experience. It was better by version 2 and using Classic Start Menu. But what a confusing mishmash of settings and styles all leading to a poor experience, like when you opened a music file of a different type to normal and it opened in the app version that took over the entire screen and switched you out of desktop mode. Its weird to me how they ever thought that was a a system to release.
My current work PC I built in an NUC cube something like 5 years ago so its Win10. It has worked quietly and without fuss, I like it. I keep a clean system and keep on top of it. I so .NET programming, professional photography and it runs my music studio. I have a carefully curated work environment - and I would like it to stay that way not be downgraded to Win11. So far I've been successful in that and have somehow avoided the forced upgrade.
That for me is one of the most annoying Windows habits - the forced updates, especially when it changes settings I have chosen to make. I hate having my work environment changed.
These days I am now doing around 50% of my work in Zorin (Writing, and all non .NET programming). I find it a calm environment and I achieve more with my time. Windows seems so full of constant nagging 'you haven't backed these files up yet' even in Windows 10. YES I HAVE! I built a NAS for that, and a separate back-up drive. I haven't copied them over to your nagging cloud.
I got a new laptop in October with Win11 of course. I am used to Win10, and am not enjoying the layout and how hidden away various options are. I set up dual boot with Zorin immediately, and didn't go into Windows in months. I recently had to, to set up my essential work environment for when I am away from home. Its a frustrating experience, everything about the interface seems to be more clunky, and takes longer just to go in, open the software, and get to work. Thats my experience.
So, my dislike of Win11 comes as a very long-term user of many computer systems. And thats just on the aesthetics and experience without considering telemetry and spying.
EDIT: I've been using Zorin now for 2 and a half years.
Apologies for posting my life history here.
EDIT 2: I meant to add that I found Chris Titus Tech's Ultimate Windows Utility which allows some control over what Win10/11 does, and allows you to bring back older control panels, which many find more useful than their modern uneqivalents.
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One of my roles in the past was whilst on secondment to an IT Department of a Social Services Directorate was to complete the annual audit of the entire deployment of desktops, notebooks and printers. The majority of the machines were Windows for Workgroups 3.11. One of the advantages it had was a comment box in networking which was empty when I came to it. Part of the audit also required me to crawl under desks to establish which ethernet port it was connected to. I decided to enter this information into the vacant field, thinking it would save the next person to undertake the annual audit of crawling under the desks, little knowing I would still be there a year later. I was also responsible for undertaking the Y2K fix, the UK specialist provider told me that Redmond could not get the working of the clock correctly and to keep its accuracy had to keep adding and taking away midnights! The exercise also had me fixing all the equipment in readiness but there were the odd notebooks that would not take it, like Olivetti. I had to produce a 3 to 500 page report on all the equipment and outcomes of the Y2K fix. At the time I thought I would see how long an Amiga was set for its end of clock life ... 2099!
Your reference to DTP reminded me of the excellent program I got for free off Amiga Format, Page Setter 2. I used it to produce the Health and Safety Bulletin for what was then the Nalgo Local Government Branch. Each page took 20 minutes to print to my Canon BJC-200. I would then take all the pages to Branch after a long evening for them to photocopy and bind. This was when my Amiga 1500 had no hard drive, just two floppy drives and 1 Mb of onboard RAM!
When I was an IT contractor I remember I went on an installation job with an employee of the company who joked that they had purchased an expensive digital camera tht required a USB connection ... not possible on an NT4 Workstation. 
I also remember dealing with Windows 98 SE and a third line support engineer I respected highly once made the comment "You wouldn't recommend that to a friend would you?" I always remember the freeze at shut down with the continual rippling bar at the bottom of the screen requiring a hard power-off.
I took my ECDL whilst in my last place of employment and passed. I didn't pass my MS Office Pro course due to failing the MS Access module but that did not bother me as I can't stand databases.
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I'm worried that Microsoft may be one of those companies that will find a way to steal/harvest data on a hardware level. Say i purchase a laptop with windows 11 on it, but i erase the disk and install Zorin OS instead. I'm worried that Microsoft would still be able to harvest data even if Windows isn't installed. I can build computers and repair them, but I'm not that techy that i can say for sure that this is possible, but it sounds like its possible. Hopefully im not sounding paranoid haha
TLDR; Vista favourite
Back to topic, I'd like to throw in my two cents for this thread. I'm born in 1997 so i was late to the DOS era, sadly. I started off in Windows XP when i was about 10, i really enjoyed it. I know this is going to be an unpopular opinion, but Vista was probably my favourite out of all of them. It was just so fluid and nice, i really liked the wide tiles in the taskbar.
TLDR; Win10/11 bad
I remember when Windows 10 dropped, i really liked the visuals of it. Some time later that same yerar i started working in IT and later started hating Windows 10 so much, the fact that it STILL has two control panels still grinds my gears.
Even worse, the fact that Windows 11 also has two control panels is insane. Its absolutely insane that the worlds biggest operating system cannot do something simple as merging everything into one.
TLDR; W11 Copilot
I remember when they announced the copilot on an OS level, it was absolutely insane. I could only imagine the possibilities Microsoft had with data harvesting there, not to mentioned breaching people's privacy. Since then I've dipped outta there and never looking back.
Its sad to say, but i don't think Linux will ever be mainstream. Though i do think it will get a lot more popular than it is now. Most of the Windows users now are users who either don't care about their privacy or generally just cannot switch due to lack of linux support for their software.
Rant over 
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Education. Simple and get kicked all stuff what I don't want using in cmd or powershell winget uninstall and full list app what they called from upd - Browse known builds - UUP dump
I vote for Windows 7 as my favorite, and Windows 8 as my least. Worst sequel ever! Even Vista was better than that...
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and here's why vista is bad! For those not familiar, my favourite scene from an old tv series called The IT Crowd
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6M46HvyAG2k
Timestamped version for those using tiktok (impatient)
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I don't even have to click on that link 
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Totally agree, its insane. And how if you click an entry in one, it sometimes throws you into the other one. Totally inconsistent.
I had to spend most of today in Win11 on my new laptop, trying to do my actual work. I took all morning instead to get OneDrive out of the system. Every time I went File>Save, it was defaulting back to OneDrive.
Even after I'd unsynced it, there in File Explorer where it shows your file path, was 'Start Backup' > Documents > etc >
Very confusing. After uninstalling oneDrive that disappeared. But you have to ensure when first setting up the system to use local storage otherwise all your storage will be on the cloud. But the system makes it look like its local.
Apologies for rant. Its been a frustrating day, where the system made it harder to do the task than I'm used to even from Win10. Its so much calmer switching back to Zorin.
I'll be in that camp for some time yet - lack of linux support.
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Windows 7 for surfing on net is still reliable.
Yeah but at this point, it's just not worth the trouble 
Why? Because someone sayed you will get a trouble?
The transaction bank is blocked and Microsoft clearing some libraries from Windows 7
Besides Windows 11 is still the same engine what was on windows 95
What I mean is that is not worth the effort of installing another OS (Windows 7) just because it can browse the net. I can already do that just fine as it is.
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One version I never touched, and come on guys you have to agree, ME was the worst ever! In terms of two control panels, that is why I could never really get on with MX-Linux xfce which had a control centre and MX-Tools - why could they not have merged them? Perhaps an issue with how xfce is compiled, I am no coder.
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Still distro hopping.
Cosmic is good looking in Garuda-Cosmic and does function well.
Pop 24.04 is coming but still need lots of work.
Zorin is one of my favourites, partly because it is very easy to dual-boot with spy-central Windows 10. Grub is far easier than systemd.
If Zorin when it come to version 18 can run programs made for Windows to run Zorin will have a big share of satisfied customers and that will spread.
Unfortunately I am not of the optimists thinking that will ever happen, so I have a computer with Win 11 pro, 1 with POP 22.04 stable for privacy and 1 for distro hopping, still hoping for miracles.
Some of the programs made for Windows are needed to get butter on the bread or whatever commonly is being said.
In terms of the Windows/Linux enterprise desktop debate there is an interesting article here:
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