One day I'll move this machine to 10, but I think I'm not going to engage with 11 at all.

12 will likely be out before then anyway...

My concern is MS will one day flip a switch and...  poof.  Might not be for another 5 or 6 years, but.

Just my 2 cents on one thing you said.  I work on, build, refurb, repair PCs.  Several times I have switched a computer from S mode to regular mode. It doesn't even require a reinstall.   It's just a setting.

Just saying.  It may not change your post, but S mode isn't something you're stuck with. 

On a second point, I have had zero issues installing just about anything I want on 11.  I have installed everything I always run on every PC I have had since Windows 7. No issues.

With the exception of WindowBlinds.

Well this all did make me curious.  There's more about it here, and it does essentially support what's been said in this thread regarding S mode, with a little more detail:

https://www.techrepublic.com/article/windows-10-s-mode-pros-and-cons/

Hope I remember all this in a few years when I'll want to.

Thanks guys.

RND - I agree S mode is not something you are stuck with... for now.  And don't doubt you that the mode can be changed via a setting.  My tech may have just preferred to use the MS Windows installation tool, as opposed to changing a setting, perhaps because of the ancillary driver & BT issues we encountered.  Thanks for your input.

And thanks for the article link, DaveRI.  Pretty much nutshells it.  Being the cynic that I am, I see nothing to stop MS simply locking the OS from the gitgo in future versions.  Or reaching in and locking existing 'open' versions if they get the itch.

The third party access has been a long time coming in the tech and it is already mastered on phone devices. Just being signed in on gmail will have Google's algorithm machine going on you. Facebook and Google already mastered this. Microsoft is simply following suit and more so on Windows 11. You really do not have much privacy as your data, results, and as facebook has shown, even your pictures can be sold.. They say it is all in the name of better results and better ads, but I have often wondered if it is really worth it.. This is why people end up going linux 😅

It is the tech trend that is the culprit here though, not necessarily windows 11. I can still customize windows 11 just fine. My one complaint though is how desperate they are to get me to use bing and edge. If I just sign into microsoft stuff on chrome they change my default search to bing and I have to reset it. That is kind of annoying. Other then that I can skip all of their subscription offers.

But you are correct. Silicon Valley is offering up a strong helping of double edge sword.

Windows 11 for me has been just fine allowing me to use plenty of my Software i used in older Windows Editions with no problems except Windowblinds as that does not work without using ExplorerPatcher.

There are always plenty of free programs around which remove all the bloatware and close down all the MS loopholes that this thread refers too, and there has been such programs since Late Windows 7, now they are just much better matching removing the new stuff we do not  and should not have.

After taking a closer look at windows 11 in regards to privacy and third party access. I did find that Windows 11 actually has options that makes it pretty private. There are a lot of options in the privacy and security options that turns off a lot of tracking for third party venders. These options can also be found in the app section, where you can turn things off.

If you want to go a step further in regards to your privacy, you can even create another user on your pc and not assign them a Microsoft id, and therefore use an account with no Microsoft id attached to it. By doing this, Windows 11 becomes one of the most private OS's out there.

I will have to say, you are at more risk of having your information leaked by using Facebook or google searches / google chrome then you are using Windows 11 with these features adjusted. You just need to tinker around with your setting at first.

Here is a good video on making windows 11 private for those that have extra time

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_ShZ98YupA

Agree with you PhoenixRising1.

MS has for a long time tried to increase the info they can skim from a users Operating System, and i too realised a long while ago not to use a Microsoft account when installing a fresh Windows 7/8/8.1/10/ and now 11, maybe this is why i have no problem migrating to Win 11.MS are trying to make it harder during the initial set up of Win 11, trying to steer you to include a MS id or account, but for all the ways the try to spy on you, peeps will always come up with ways to for that not to happen, even the account set up stage of a clean re install makes you believe you can not progress to the next step unless you add a MS id or account, i just go for a local account to avoid those hard wired settings, then later change those details on the users terms making the changes necessary and what suits the user best. Now and again i will run one of the free tools to close MS spying just in case there is something i have missed.

The offer of a free upgrade to Win 10 and 11 was not a mistake by MS as they knew they would gather enough info on the user using default settings to cover the cost of the "Free" Upgrade"  So it has always been a users responsibility to close down these Legit backdoors using some or all of the methods we have talked about.

I do not think a user should be put off upgrading to Win 11 based on something MS has been doing for years, they act and as long as we react a balance can be achieved.

If And Tech Support should make a bold statement like  "I've been advised by my tech support company to not install Windows 11 under any circumstances."  They should also include the ways to negate such risks making the Operating System better fit the average user, yes the average user should not need to do this but we are talking about Microsoft here, they are not a trusted family member but a Multi National Info Muncher who want to make it sound like they are offering you something too good to be true.

Multi National Info Muncher 

Well done, naroon1!  That's a keeper.

As for my tech support's advice, his principal reason for giving it to us was the lack of HIPAA compliance in Windows 11, but that was only the principal reason.

Hippa is one of those things you don't want to mess around with and I don't blame tech support for wanting to take extra steps in protecting peoples privacy.

I think Microsoft was pretty clever with how they are decietfully handling the use of their third party access on Windows 11. On one hand you can absolutely say that they are data mining people. But on the other hand Microsoft can respond like this. "Look the on off switches are there, all you have to do is turn it off. We care about your privacy"

Truth be told is that by default these are set to on and about 80 percent of people will keep them on without realizing. So what you end up with is that techies will tell you that Windows 11 is good for privacy. And this is simply because they offer just slightly more then what google and apple does for privacy. However, this does not mean they aren't playing the exact same game when it comes to extracting your data. This makes Microsoft clever, they are able to do what apple and google are doing AND get some good press in the process.

- slightly edited to better word my point.

No, they don't get good press.

MS clearly determined they could ignore a purchase price for the OS [10] if it would coerce everyone to move to an OS that by design was a mechanism for data-mining and leverage towards MS-Store only commercial interaction.

Sadly, people are naive and never look that 'gift horse in the mouth'.

Things that have switches on 'by default' actually have them on 'by design'.  The motive is clear.

"...but opens your computer to all kinds of background third party access."

Exactly. The reason I won't go with 11.

I think it's outrageous to create an OS which disrespects the consumer's security/privacy. Unless this is changed, I'll migrate to another OS. I believe an OS's default should be for maximum security. That was supposed to be the reason W11 came into being, no?

Fix 10, and there'll be no need for 11.

There should have never been a Windows 8, 8.1, 10 or now even 11! Windows 7 was perfect IMO!

This is not a new thing, MS has been doing it for years but we are never going to see the line

"Window 8/10/11 The Best OS Yet, Just Ignore all the Spying" 

Peeps like us expect the Spying and third party access to grow with each New OS, so we take steps to prevent it, is it right Hell NO, but if we want to use Windows for free we deal with it and close down those backdoors.

I am sure many of us as Techy people help others, family and friends, so our job is to spread the word, educate and when we do work for said peeps show them how to negate this.

Some are saying in this topic  "I will not move to Win 11 Due To This, i will stick with Win 10, come on guys and gals, the same thing was happening in that OS too, or do you really think MS spying on us is a Win 11 only thing.

LightStar   In a perfect world Win 7 would have been a good point to stop, but how else is MS going to sell it's Go Faster Striped Windows even as a free upgrade.

Do we all remember MS telling us there will be NO Windows after Win 10, how many of us actually believed this when they read it for the first time, i did not, and the reason i did not is very simple.

MICROSOFT LIES TO PEOPLE, they have, they are, and they will continue too, the process to limit this to what we consider is ok is not only in the realms of Techy people, the free tools on the net are easy to find and use, so make the move to Win 11, shut down the loopholes, job done, or you can stick with an OS that will one day become dangerous to use as MS will make sure of that by stopping Security Patches and other Companies will remove support also.

Then one day you will think, it was far better MS knowing what sites i spend my time on (if you did not close this down) than a Pirate scumbag using an unsupported OS to empty your Bank Account.