One “simple trick” and your next Windows install will be blissfully free of bloatware.

Basically, install Windows as you normally would, but when asked for Time and Currency format, select English (World) instead of your country.

Then let the installer do its thing. Eventually, you will see a window with an ice cream cone on the floor with the words “Something went wrong” and the error message “OOBEREGION.” This cryptic message means that the “out of box experience” (OOBE) didn’t launch because it didn’t know which region to launch.

Click Skip, though, and Windows will install just fine. You won’t be prompted to buy Microsoft 365, you won’t be prompted to pay for a OneDrive subscription, and your Start menu won’t be cluttered with apps.

    • @[email protected]
      English
      2•9 months ago

      The gamer variant you’re talking about is Nobara.

      Which is pretty good.

      I switched to it about a month ago, reminds me of what Ubuntu used to be with its easy to use-ness

    • KogasaEnglish
      2•9 months ago

      Honestly, there’s a half dozen that are just as good as Fedora out of the box, and dozens that are just as capable once broken in.

    • @[email protected]English
      1•9 months ago

      It is? Hmm I’ve not had a single issue with it in years. It gets regular updates, granted it’s not on the current Ubuntu version, but out of date it is not. What problems does it have?

      Use what you want, but making the declaration that Fedora is the distro to go with is a stretch.